Inside Asian Gaming

IAG APR 2020年4月 亞博匯 31 封面故事 companies are going to become questionable in terms of paying the same level as last year. Every operator is a little bit different when it comes to this risk horizon that we might be looking at for different reasons.” Steve Gallaway, Managing Partner of Global Market Advisors, believes those companies whose debt situation places them in a more precarious position may well learn a valuable lesson once they emerge from the crisis. “For those that were over leveraged, it will remind them of the importance of being in a strong cash position, including availability of credit lines, to weather storms as they come, as we always know that storms do come,” he says. Likewise, COVID-19 may well spark a new era of cost management within the industry. “Each casino resort operator will seek to lower their fixed costs so they can react more quickly to future revenue shocks,” explains Kevin Clayton, a Senior Management Consultant and former Chief Marketing Officer of Galaxy Entertainment Group. “The daily cash burn for leading operators during COVID-19 closures was reported as US$3million to US$4 million per day which is a real burden on the balance sheet and something to be mindful of going forward. “Not unlike the Global Financial Crisis in 2008- 09, the latest crisis to hit Macau will present each gaming operator with an ideal opportunity to reengineer its internal processes and simplify its organizational structures. “A crisis can shock a business into taking action that may not have been previously considered. During a period of sustained growth organizations frequently suffer from increased layers of complexity and costs that can choke the business. There’s no time like the present to look much closer at all casino resort operations in realizing cost efficiencies, while also mapping customer journeys in more detail to improve the effectiveness of customer facing operations, particularly with competition likely to intensify.” Ultimately, says Clayton, the coronavirus pandemic will serve as a test not only of the financial resolve of operators but also the values by which they stand – a potentially key attribute forMacau’s six concessionaires as they prepare for their next big challenge: the re- tendering of gaming licenses. 風雨飄搖 就目前而言，對未來的不確定性揮之不去，可能會讓其中的 一些人更為頭痛。 Umansky在談及澳門營運商當下困境時表示：「如果我們六 月坐在這裡時，眼前的數據還像現在這般的話，那問題就嚴重得 多了。」 「但我不認為我們會去到那種境地——即使在現時熊市的情 況下，我們也還沒有去到那個處境——因此我認為情況會逐漸改 善，但從營運商的角度來看，他們各自所處的財務狀況是不同的。 有些營運商本身債務較多，需要償還更多的利息，作為規模較大 的公司，固定成本也較高，但由於現時的業務量很小，因而那些資 金流出規模較大、需要償還更多債務的大公司將承受更大的影響。 「想想永利、新濠影滙（新濠博亞娛樂）、美高梅，某種程度上 這些營運商的債務更多，所以如果疫情拖到下半年，現金流就會 枯竭，那他們的首席財務官們一定會相當緊張的。」 「現階段我不認為上述公司中的任何一家會陷入財務困 境——他們應該可以度過難關——但於某些公司而言，派息能否與 上年水平相當，目前是存疑的。每家營運商因應不同的理由，所面 臨的風險範圍是不盡相同的。」 Global Market Advisors公司的管理合夥人Steve Gallaway 則認為，一旦那些因債務狀況而陷入險境的公司走出困境，或可 汲取更為寶貴的經驗教訓。 他說：「對於那些過度利用槓桿的公司而言，此事將提醒他們 持有包括有效信貸額度在內的強大現金流以對抗風險的重要性， 因為我們一直都知道危機總會到來。」 此外，COVID-19疫情可能會激發整個行業進入成本管控的新 時代。 高級管理顧問、銀河娛樂集團前首席市場推廣總監补禮敦 （Kevin Clayton）解釋稱：「每家賭場度假村營運商都將尋求降低 固定成本，以便更快地應對未來的收入衝擊。」 「據悉在因應疫情關閉賭場期間，各主要營運商每天的現金 支出約為300萬至400萬美元，這對於資產負債表而言是真正的負 擔，也是未來需要注意的事情。」 「這次與2008-2009年的全球金融危機不同。這次所發生的 危機給每家博彩營運商都提供了一個機會，來重新設計其內部流 程並簡化其組織結構。」 「一場危機可以為一家企業敲響警鐘，令其採取此前未曾考 慮過的行動。在連續增長時期，企業組織結構會日益複雜而成本 則日益攀升，這會對業務產生不利影響。眼下則更可以密切關注