Macau Casino Revenue Up 3.2% To $3.5bn In October

The world’s biggest gambling resort Macau has released its casino gambling figures for October, revealing a 3.2% increase in revenue to 27.7 billion patacas ($3.5 billion).
The huge sum represents Macau’s strongest ever monthly figure, beating the previous record set last October of 26.85 billion patacas. Helping Macau’s impressive results along was an eight-day National holiday, which saw mainland visitors flock to the Chinese enclave. In addition, despite concerns that the lucrative high-roller end of the market has begun to wane, there has been impressive growth in the mass-market catering for middle-class tourists, and as Emperor Securities financial services analyst Chelsey Tam, explains:
“The opening of new projects this year, strong mass-market revenue growth, casinos’ improvement in table efficiency all speak to the record gaming revenue.”
Nevertheless, unlike previous years, Macau casino revenues continue to increase by only single digits and in July recorded its lowest increase in three years of just 1.5%. Moreover, despite gaming revenues over the first 10 months of 2012 being up 13% over the same period in 2011, growth seems to be trending downwards. In fact, Deutsche Bank has now revised its 2013 Macau casino revenue forecasts from 11% to 7%.
As gaming analyst Steven Wieczynski from Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets, highlights: “Despite establishing a new monthly record, we do not expect the results to be well received by investors, as the rate of gross gaming revenues growth appears to have lagged gaming capacity growth within the market.”
Uncertainty over the future policy of China’s ruling Party towards Macau has so far dissuaded many wealthy Chinese from visiting the resort. However, accommodating monetary and fiscal policies are expected to be laid out at the 18th Party Congress in Beijing on November 8th, when a new leadership for the next decade will be appointed. A rebound in high-roller revenue growth is then a possibility for the final quarter.