Macau Casinos Hit $4.4bn In March, The Third Highest On Record
April 3, 2014 12:08 pmMacau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau has released its casino figures for March, revealing a 13.1% increase in revenues to 35.45 billion patacas ($4.4 billion) compared to the same month last year. For the first three months of 2014, the Chinese gambling resort has now generated $12.8 billion in gambling revenues, a 19.8% improvement over the same period in 2013.
Macau’s latest monthly tally was the third highest on record and was particularly impressive considering the March 2013 comparative of $3.9 billion was a record high at the time and last month’s revenue of $4.8 billion was the highest on record.
For the whole of last year, Macau generated a staggering $45.2 billion in gambling revenues, and 2014 is also shaping out to be a bumper year, too. Experts consider Macau will inevitability experience $5 billion months this year, possibly by October which marks China’s National Day holiday.
Commenting on the Chinese enclave’s latest revenues result, Union Gaming Group analyst Grant Govertsen, said: “Macau gaming trends are still strong across all relevant segments despite recent macro China fears, as well as concerns on various growth drivers. To date we are not seeing any indications that Macau’s gaming industry is experiencing any such related weakness.”
While Las Vegas has been suffering lower revenues, the three Nevada-based casino companies of Las Vegas Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Resorts International have benefited hugely from a presence in the Macau market. Continuing to build their investments in Macau, all three gambling operators are currently constructing new multibillion-dollar casino resorts on the island’s Cotai Strip, which are then expected to be completed by 2016. These include the Wynn Paradise ($4 billion), the MGM Cotai ($2.9 billion) and the Las Vegas Sands Parisian ($2.7 billion).
Looking at growth prospects ahead, analysts are predicting further double-digit growth for the rest of 2014, with Nomura Securities gaming analyst Harry Curtis, explaining:
“History has shown that Macau’s gaming revenues continue to increase at a significantly higher pace than regional gross domestic product growth despite doubts about China’s economy. Another positive is that the discounting of Cotai projects now coming out of the ground should lift stock prices this year, in our view.”