Sweden’s state-run gambling operator Svenska Spel has shut down its four land-based casinos in response to new government limits on public gatherings.

On Friday, Svenska Spel announced that its Casino Cosmopol subsidiary would “temporarily close” its venues in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Sundsvall after the government ordered a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people to minimize further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Svenska Spel CEO Patrik Hofbauer said his company had kept its casinos open “as part of our responsibility to keep the community going.” The casinos had observed the government’s previous order to limit public gatherings to 500 people but the new 50-person limit made the shutdown “necessary.”

Casino Cosmopol was already struggling, having reported a 10% decline in its Q4 2019 revenue to SEK443m (US$44m), representing roughly one-sixth of Svenska Spel’s overall revenue. Like all operators, Svenska Spel’s sports betting unit is currently suffering from a dearth of events on which to offer wagers due to the mass cancellation of live sports.

The chief of Asia’s leading casino junket operator Suncity Group has said the company’s affiliated integrated resort project in Vietnam is pushing back its launch date by a year.

On Friday, Suncity Group Holdings – a separate but linked firm from junket operator Suncity Group – released its 2019 unaudited financial results. The Hong Kong-listed company’s revenue hit RMB611.8m (US$86.1m) last year, down 22.8% from 2018’s result, while gross profit tumbled 57.8% to RMB99.9m, resulting in a net loss of nearly RMB1.5b, a slight improvement over 2018’s RMB1.46b loss.

The Holdings company currently makes most of its bones through commercial property development and VIP gambler travel services, but is increasingly focused on casino management. Cash outlays toward expanding these casino management operations are largely responsible for the company’s recent losses.

Speaking of, Suncity announced that the Hoiana integrated resort project in Vietnam – a joint venture in which Suncity holds a 34% stake – is pushing back its official launch until sometime next year due to “uncertainties” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Cambodia closed its borders with Thailand, the casino industry took an immediate hit, but they were still open. That’s no longer the case, as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on March 30 that all casinos will be ordered to close on April 1, in an effort to help fight COVID-19.

The Prime Minister gave no hint as to when casinos may be allowed to re-open, instead suggesting it very much depends on the situation. “This is just a temporary closure, and they will be allowed to resume their operations when the situation stabilize,” he said.

Without revenue coming in, he also offered that casinos could work with the ministry of finance for tax exemptions.

The decision to close casinos came as Cambodia’s number of infected reached over 100 cases. No national lockdown or state of emergency has been announced, but the latter is being considered. One of the newly reported March 30 cases was a casino worker in the town of Banteay Meanchey.

Penn National Gaming, the operator of the M Resort and the Tropicana, announced on March 27 that they would furlough 26,000 employees in a nationwide action, as a response to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company issued a statement announcing the furloughs, as well as their intent to sell the real estate assets of the Tropicana, and a lease for planned casino in Morgantown, PA. This lease was going to be for gaming and leisure properties and could earn the company a total of $337.5 million in rent credits.

In the statement, President and CEO Jay Snowden stated, “As the global COVID-19 health crisis continues to evolve, we are navigating through this unprecedented time for our company, our industry, and our nation.”

The statement further went on to explain the actions regarding the leasing of the property in Pennsylvania. He explained the financial terms of the lease and added that “the deal includes an option for us to acquire the operations of GLPI’s Hollywood Casino in Perryville, Maryland at a future date. We greatly appreciate the cooperation, creativity, and partnership shown by GLPI during this challenging time. While this transaction will help to relieve liquidity pressure in terms of rent obligations, we are committed to taking further steps to reduce our ongoing operating expenses in order to ensure we have a healthy business to return to when we are able to re-open our doors.”

Delta Corp Limited announced through a regulatory filing. March 28 that its board of directors had approved a plan to buy back shares of the company.

The buyback would allow the company to buy shares up to 12.5 million shares of the company, representing a total of 4.61% of the total capital of Delta Corp. The approval allows them to purchase shares at a price that does not exceed Rs 100 ($1.33) per share in the open market. This should not be an issue as the rate per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Friday was Rs 59.50 ($0.79), well below the maximum cap set.

The company named company secretary Dilip Narendra Vaidya as the compliance officer during the buyback process. He will be responsible for “compliance with the SEBI Buy-Back Regulations and to redress the grievances of the shareholders in relation to the Buy-Back.”

With the company shutting down its casino operations in Goa and Sikkim due to the Covid-19 virus, the price of their stock has been plummeting. The stock was selling at a price of Rs 124 ($1.64) two weeks ago and had been as high as Rs 241 ($3.20) as recent as a year ago.

Initially, the belief was that Japan would see at least one of its first three integrated resorts (IR) in 2024. This would have been perfect, especially if Osaka were among the three and was able to launch its project ahead of the World Expo to be held the following year. However, not long after the government began working on creating the necessary framework for the industry, it became apparent that seeing any casino in the country before 2025 was unrealistic. Thanks, in part, to the coronavirus, seeing a venue open in 2026 became a tenuous goal, and a recent decision by Osaka to extend the period for responding to a request for proposals (RFP) confirms the idea that 2027 might now be the estimated timeline.

Initially, the government of the Osaka prefecture was expected to have gathered all responses to its RFP by next month. However, it announced last Friday that it will allow three more months as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic. The government is still optimistic that it can realize its 2026 goal for the opening of an IR, but the current health situation is expected to force additional delays and that target is more than likely not going to be maintained.

Along with the delay in the RFP window, the decision on choosing a private-sector partner to participate in the project will be pushed back, as well. Previously expecting to make a decision sometime in June, the Osaka government will now need to allow for the additional three months to gather responses, and won’t be able to wrap things up until September. That partner will be working with MGM Resorts, the casino operator tentatively chosen by Osaka to spearhead the project.

Osaka already has the land picked out for the IR and is undeniably anxious to get the ball rolling. Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay, is the ideal location for a permanent casino resort, and is also where the World Expo is going to be held. Land destined to be used for the IR was to be turned over to authorities sometime during the fall of next year, but that deadline has been pushed out to the spring of 2022. This could potentially delay the casino development, as well.

By some accounts, the U.S. has not yet reached the estimated maximum number of cases of coronavirus contagion. President Trump, based on information he’s been given, doesn’t expect the peak to happen for another couple of weeks, and this has forced him to take additional measures to ensure federal health-related guidelines are maintained. As a result, these measures will remain in effect until the end of April, which is going to delay the ability of casinos and other businesses to get on the road to recovery.

Among the various measures implemented by the federal government, based on recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are things like self-isolation as much as possible, reduced travel, remote work if appropriate and reducing any type of gathering to a maximum of ten people. All of these effect casino operations, and the initially analysis has put industry losses at above $1 billion for a two-month shutdown spanning February and March. Tacking on additional month is going to further devastate the industry, and could lead some companies into bankruptcy.

Across the country, states have ordered casinos to shut their doors and turn off the lights, at least for the time being. The gambling venues have complied, but not all are subject to state-level regulations. Tribal gambling venues aren’t required to adhere to state orders, since they’re regulated by the federal government, but it is in their best interest to follow state guidelines – at some point, gambling compacts will come up for renewal. There don’t appear to be many issues, though, as, out of the 989 commercial and tribal casinos across the country, less than ten are still open, and that number continues to drop.

Trump is expected to provide a detailed update on the situation tomorrow at the latest; how this new information influences states and their own lockdown orders isn’t clear. Many states, such as Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, have shut down casinos through some point in the first week of April, and could change the parameters once new information is released.