Melco leads rally in gambling stocks as Macau opens bid for casino licenses

HWGG Entertainment

16/09/2022 04:22

** Melco International  0200.HK  leads rally in casino
operators, jumping as much as 10.1%, as Macau government opens
bids for licenses to operate casinos in the world's biggest
gambling hub
    ** Melco shares jump to a session high of HK$5.76, mark
biggest intraday pct rise since March 17 if gains hold
    ** Macau's top officials are attending the opening together
with heads of the Macau casinos  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N30M1H8
    ** The government is expected to review the proposals and
negotiate with the bidders before announcing six winners by the
end of November or early December, analysts said
    ** All six incumbent players submitted bids together with
GMM Limited, a holding company of Genting Group Chairman Sri Lim
Kok Thay 
    ** "We believe the Macau government needs stable and healthy
development of the mass-market gaming business more than ever.
The six incumbents appear best positioned to assist the
government to achieve this goal with the least risk," Citi wrote
in a note, adding Genting's chance to win a gaming concession is
low
    ** Shares of Galaxy  0027.HK , Wynn Macau  1128.HK , MGM
China  2282.HK , Sands China  1928.HK , and SJM  0880.HK  rise
between 2.8% and 6.6%
    ** Hang Seng Index  .HSI  slips 0.9%


 (Reporting by Donny Kwok)
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com))