Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) will launch its first smart gaming tables in July, with rollout to be completed by the end of the year, as it continues to revamp its Macau gaming floors, the company said during its 1Q24 earnings call this week.
Details of the call were outlined in a series of analyst reports following release of its Q1 results, which were largely in-line with expectations despite the company losing market share, down from 17.5% in 4Q23 to 17.2% – impacted by gaming floor rejuvenation works at Galaxy Macau in January and February.
According to GEG management, the completion of such works has resulted in market share gains in April and May, stating “meaningful improvement is happening” even with some slot machine upgrades still taking place.
In a Wednesday note, Jefferies analyst Andrew Lee said some smart tables – GEG is installing the Walker Digital Table Systems product – would be put into use from July, while Seaport Research’s Vitaly Umansky added that full smart table utilization was expected late this year or into early 2025.
“While player reinvestment has risen in Macau (especially at the upper end of premium mass), Galaxy remains committed to not focus on competing on escalating player reinvestment,” Umansky wrote.
“Instead, the company has revamped their marketing structure over the last few months and should see smart digital tables begin utilization by year-end and into early next year.
“Galaxy’s competitive advantage at Galaxy Macau remains its scale, service and product offering. With a re-focus on sales process and operational execution, we expect share gains to continue at Galaxy Macau over the next few quarters and into 2025.”
Lee confirmed that GEG will now focus its energies on revamping peninsula property StarWorld, with works to be completed by the end of this year.
Despite losing share in Q1, Umansky said, “We sense management were optimistic and confident on the Macau outlook especially given the recent expansion of IVS, which we believe will likely improve connectivity further which focuses on pushing Greater Bay.”
