Macau Casino Revenue Up 21% To $3.54bn In June

The Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau has released its casino figures for June, revealing a 21.1% increase in revenue to $3.54 billion compared to the same month last year.
The popularity of Chinas only gambling resort shows no signs of abating and throughout 2013 Macau has recorded its two highest revenue months ever, with $3.92 billion collected in March, followed by $3.7 billion in May. Overall, though, Macau’s gambling revenue is currently up by 15.3%, which is roughly in line with the 16% forecast by Union Gaming Research Macau analyst Grant Govertsen.
In Macau, whereas the mass market comprised of middle-class visitors has continued to grow, around 70% of the gambling resorts revenues is actually derived from VIP gamblers, and there are currently concerns that these high roller may begin to ease off on account of a cooling Chinese economy. Nevertheless, other analysts, are predicting that July gaming revenues could soar by up to 21%, and as Harry Curtis from Nomura Equity Research, explains:
“We are not changing our full year estimate of plus 15 percent despite the recent stronger-than-expected numbers because of tight credit conditions in China. So far, gamers in Macau have ignored the dire economic press.”
Back in 2006, Macau became the world’s biggest gambling center and last year generated $38 billion in revenue compared to $10.8 billion for the Las Vegas Strip. The region is now home to some of the biggest casino companies in the world, including USA based interests MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Sands Corp and Wynn Resorts. These companies have continued to expand their presence in Macau with MGM Resorts expected to complete a $2.5 billion development on the Cotai Strip by 2016, Las Vegas Sands a $4.4 billion project, and Wynn Resorts’ a more modest $3.5 billion hotel-casino by the same date.