Macau’s January casino gaming revenue exceeds projections and shows robust recovery. The region’s GGR or gross gaming revenue has reached MOP13 billion or $1.6 billion. This is just for the initial 21 days of January. It reflects an average daily revenue of MOP629 million or $78 million.
This marks a 5% increase compared to the previous week. This was reported by a recent HSBC Global Research release.
The surge in revenue is attributed to heightened traffic and an enhanced VIP win rate. Macau Daily Times reported that it rose from approximately 2.7-2.8% to 2.8-3.0% in the last week. The report noted a 1% month-to-month increase in VIP gaming volume. On the other hand, the mass market GGR experienced a 4-5% rise. This was compared to the prior week’s 3% increase.
Sands China and MGM are gaining market share in the mass gaming segment. This was compared to December, according to the research group.
Let’s say the GGR sustains an average daily run-rate of MOP550-600 million or $68.3-74.5 million throughout the remainder of January, projections estimate the total GGR for the month to range between MOP18.5 to MOP 19 billion ($2.3 to $2.36 billion). This forecast specifies a recovery to 74-76% of January 2019. Furthermore, it shows a slight improvement from the 75% recovery observed in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Recently, Citigroup forecasted Macau’s GGR for January 2024 to potentially reach MOP 17.5 billion or 2.2 billion US dollars. This finding indicates a recovery to 70% of 2019 levels. This expectation follows a December 2023 performance that exceeded initial forecasts. The initial forecasts have an average daily revenue of around MOP 600 million and surpasses expectations by estimated 6%.
Moreover, JPMorgan predicts the January GGR to range between MOP17.5 billion to MOP18 billion. Despite the macroeconomic challenges, Macau’s outlook for casinos remains optimistic in the Year of the Dragon.
