Macau Casinos Earn $1.68 Billion Revenue In February 2010

Not only has Macau surpassed Las Vegas as the world’s most popular gaming resort, but it has rubbed further salt in Nevada’s wound’s by showing a 70% rise in its latest casino revenue for February compared to last year.
Macau was a Portuguese territory until 1999 when the Chinese reclaimed sovereignty over the enclave, and have since transformed it into the “Monte Carlo of the Orient” and China’s only legal casino resort.
The southern Chinese gambling resort of half a million people and located close to Hong Kong took $1.68 billion in casino revenue throughout February, representing an impressive 69.4% rise from the same month last year. The second half of February also saw casino revenues hit a peak of $87.55 million per day, with high-stakes baccarat continuing to be a major pull for the mainland China “high roller” gamblers.
Overall, despite falling 12.4% in the first 6 months of 2009 Macau’s gaming revenue was up 9.7% throughout the whole of 2009. However, Macau’s success is not all bad news for US gaming companies, with Las Vegas Sands, MGM Mirage, and Wynn Resorts all having properties and interests in the resort.
Sands China Ltd is one of the biggest operators in the Asian gaming market and revealed its net income for February reached $213.8 million from $175.7 million in 2009, while its shares were up 2.9% and 12.9% this year. The company which operates three large casinos in Macau is also seen as a good investment by JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts Billy Ng, Steven Li and Joanne Cheung, who commented:
“We believe Macau gaming is a compelling secular China growth story. We prefer Sands as it has a differentiated strategy, focusing on the mass market, proven execution ability and the most aggressive expansion plans in Macau.”
In the meantime, Wynn Resorts shares were up 1% on the news and are presently trading at $66.87 while MGM’s stock has remained largely static.