Here’s a bit of post-holiday cheer for SJM Holdings Ltd. employees: the Macau-based gaming operator will keep on giving out bonuses this year despite the lackluster performance of the city-state’s gaming sector in 2015.
Labor activist group Forefront of Macau Gaming got ahold of an internal notice in which SJM announced that it will distribute bonuses to its employees this year, Macau Business Daily reported.
According to the announcement, the casino operator will offer an annual bonus equivalent to two months’ salary for employees who are earning MOP20,000 (US$2,500) and below.
For employees receiving wages higher than that level, they will receive an annual bonus equivalent to 1.5 months of their salaries or MOP40,000, whichever is higher, according to the news report.
A separate report from GGRAsia noted that the bonus scheme is also applicable to SJM Holdings employees working for less than a year. These workers will be paid pro rata based on their time with the company.
The scheme, called “living subsidies,” will be paid in two installments. The first payout, or the “new year subsidies,” are scheduled to be distributed on January 1, while the “summer subsidies” will be given out on July 1.
However, the memo didn’t mention if SJM Holdings will increase its employees’ salaries this year. Last year, the gaming operator gave a 5 percent raise to its staff, on top of the bonus scheme, according to GGRAsia. The good news is that other Macau-based casino operators have yet to announce if their staff will get a pay raise this year.
SJM Holdings made a pledge two years that it will retain its “living subsidy” scheme until 2020.
The casino operator saw its profits fall in the third quarter of 2014 as VIPs continue to avoid Macau like the plague. SJM said gaming revenue in the three months ending Sept. 30 was down 38 percent to HKD 11.2 billion (US$1.45 billion), while earnings fell 49.5 percent to HKD 884 million and profits slumped 81 percent to HKD 285 million. However, the company said profits would have fallen a mere 65 percent if not for a HKD 250 million impairment charge on one of its investment instruments.
