{"id":232983,"date":"2022-09-20T22:48:04","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T03:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=232983"},"modified":"2022-09-21T14:15:17","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T19:15:17","slug":"mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard Sees Convention Biz Improving, BetMGM Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) could evaluate more acquisitions following the purchase of the LeoVegas online casino. That’s while continuing to reward investors via share buybacks, noted CFO Jonathan Halkyard.<\/p>\n

\"Jonathan
MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard in a 2018 interview. He said convention business is bouncing back. (Image: Hotel Business<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Halkyard made the comments Tuesday at Deutsche Bank\u2019s 30th<\/sup> Annual Leveraged Finance Conference. MGM recently put the finishing touches on its $607 million acquisition of LeoVegas<\/a>, which\u00a0positions the casino giant to expand its internet gaming and sports betting footprints in Europe.<\/p>\n

\n

Halkyard told analysts and investors at the conference that LeoVegas had some acquisitions in the works before MGM floated its takeover offer in May. But the Swedish gaming company faced capital constraints in getting deals done. MGM could evaluate some of the irons LeoVegas had in the fire with a strong cash position. But Halkyard didn\u2019t identify specific targets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Echoing comments he\u2019s made at previous investment confabs, Halkyard told attendees at the Deutsche Bank conference that MGM will remain a dedicated buyer of its own stock.<\/a> He noted the gaming company repurchased about 30% of its market capitalization over the past year.<\/p>\n

Encouraging Convention Signs, Stock Comments<\/h2>\n

Because of its status as the largest operator on the Las Vegas Strip, integral to the MGM investment thesis is the return of convention and meeting business to the largest US casino center. After a multi-year delay induced by the coronavirus pandemic, group and meeting turnover appears to be trending in the right direction, noted Halkyard.<\/p>\n

A year ago, people were very tentative in their planning, and cancellation clauses and rebooking were heavily negotiated,\u201d said the MGM finance boss. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing very much a return to normalcy or even real enthusiasm around the group and meeting business, and that\u2019s extending deep into the first and second quarter of 2023.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Halkyard said the group and meeting business accounts for 20% of MGM\u2019s turnover, and its pricing sets a base for the rest of the operator\u2019s revenue management endeavors. For MGM and rivals, conventions are vital<\/a>\u00a0because those get-togethers boost midweek occupancy rates in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

In discussing the company\u2019s shares, Halkyard pointed out that the stock trades at an implied US enterprise value\/earnings before interest depreciation and amortization (EV\/EBITDA) of just 5.3x.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t include the company\u2019s nearly 56% stake in MGM China, and that estimate ascribes no value to BetMGM.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the end of the second quarter, MGM Resorts had $4.34 billion in cash and total liquidity of $4.34 billion.<\/p>\n

Speaking of BetMGM<\/h2>\n

BetMGM — the internet casino and online sportsbook operator in which MGM holds a 50% interest — issued bullish financial commentary<\/a> in May. Halkyard reiterated that view at the Deutsche Bank conference.<\/p>\n

The MGM CFO said that by the end of this year, the casino company and partner Entain will have contributed $1 billion in capital to the iGaming unit. He said BetMGM should turn profitable on an EBITDA basis by the end of 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

BetMGM has about 30% of the US online casino market, while its closest competitor hovers at around 20%. BetMGM is a solid number two regarding online sports betting, though it trails leader FanDuel by a wide margin.<\/p>\n

Halkyard said MGM enjoys advantages in internet gaming through its land-based casinos, citing Michigan, where it runs MGM Grand Detroit, as a prime example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) could evaluate more acquisitions following the purchase of the LeoVegas online casino. That’s while continuing to reward investors via share buybacks, noted CFO Jonathan Halkyard. Halkyard made the comments Tuesday at Deutsche Bank\u2019s 30th Annual Leveraged Finance Conference. MGM recently put the finishing touches on its $607 million acquisition of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":232984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10],"tags":[81897,81903],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMGM CFO Halkyard Highlights Convention Biz, Stock Buybacks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MGM CFO Halkyard says convention biz returning, BetMGM thriving.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MGM CFO Halkyard Highlights Convention Biz, Stock Buybacks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MGM CFO Halkyard says convention biz returning, BetMGM thriving.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-21T03:48:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-21T19:15:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/JH.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/\",\"name\":\"MGM CFO Halkyard Highlights Convention Biz, Stock Buybacks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/JH.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-21T03:48:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-21T19:15:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"MGM CFO Halkyard says convention biz returning, BetMGM thriving.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/JH.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/JH.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard. At the Bank of America Leveraged Finance Conference he said the Las Vegas Grand Prix was a record breaker for MGM. (Image: Hotel Business)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Financial\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard Sees Convention Biz Improving, BetMGM Progress\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\",\"name\":\"Todd Shriber\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Todd Shriber\"},\"description\":\"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MGM CFO Halkyard Highlights Convention Biz, Stock Buybacks","description":"MGM CFO Halkyard says convention biz returning, BetMGM thriving.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MGM CFO Halkyard Highlights Convention Biz, Stock Buybacks","og_description":"MGM CFO Halkyard says convention biz returning, BetMGM thriving.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-09-21T03:48:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-21T19:15:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/JH.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Todd Shriber","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@etfgodfather","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd Shriber","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/","name":"MGM CFO Halkyard Highlights Convention Biz, Stock Buybacks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/JH.jpg","datePublished":"2022-09-21T03:48:04+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-21T19:15:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85"},"description":"MGM CFO Halkyard says convention biz returning, BetMGM thriving.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/JH.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/JH.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard. At the Bank of America Leveraged Finance Conference he said the Las Vegas Grand Prix was a record breaker for MGM. (Image: Hotel Business)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-halkyard-highlights-convention-biz-stock-buybacks\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Financial","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard Sees Convention Biz Improving, BetMGM Progress"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85","name":"Todd Shriber","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","caption":"Todd Shriber"},"description":"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/","https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232983"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}