Macau Casino Revenue Up 22% To $3.13 Billion In April 2012
May 8, 2012 2:36 pmGambling revenue in Macau has continued to surge after the Chinese enclave recorded a 22% rise in casino earnings to 25 billion patacas ($3.13 billion) for the month of April. That is equivalent to around $105 million taken each day from gamblers.
Although the first half of April was not particularly strong, the second half accelerated as the May holiday weekend approached, resulting in the latest monthly figure being the third highest on record.
“You can notice that the daily gross gaming revenue accelerated. It is a short term trend but still it may indicate we are going towards a positive direction,” commented analyst Victor Yip from UOB Kay Hian brokerage.
Despite April’s impressive result, it was still largely in line with analysts predictions, who have estimated between 15% and 25% revenue growth in Macau this year compared to 42% in 2011. Nevertheless, the first four months of 2012 have seen gambling revenue in Macau soar by 27%, with January up 28.3%, February up 34.8%, March up 24% and now April up 22%.
The 11th of April also saw the Las Vegas Sands open up their $4.4 billion Sands Cotai Central, although it will be a while before a meaningful impact is felt on the monthly gross gaming revenue figures. As gaming analyst Grant Govertsen from Union Gaming Group, explains; “..we note that ongoing construction disruption will keep the property from reaching its full potential this year.”
Back in 2006, Macau overtook Las Vegas as the world’s top gambling destination and now the enclave located just 60kms from Hong Kong, generates around five times the revenue of The Strip. To put things into perspective, in 2011 Macau casinos collected $33.5 billion from gamblers compared to the $6.068 billion by Las Vegas and $10.7 billion overall for the state of Nevada.
The good news, however, is that three Nevada-based American companies operate in the Macau market including Las Vegas Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd., and MGM Resorts International.