Macau GGR expected to moderate in March

Analysts said that Macau’s GGR won’t be as high as it was in February.

Macau.- Buckingham Research Group released a report where it’s detailed that the financial results won’t be as good as they were last month. Gross gaming revenue is expected to be between 10 and 12 percent, almost an 8 percent less than February.

The research group said: “According to our channel checks, last week’s number was better than anticipated on robust VIP while VIP hold rate was around normal level. With respect to individual operators, the devil remains largely in the details regarding the breakdown between VIP and Mass and overall market shares (which are not available) and as such the weight of the overall GGR number needs to be taken with a bit of skepticism.”

Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported a 17.8 percent increase in February compared to the same period in 2016 to US$2.8 billion. Last month’s GGR results have been the highest since January 2015 when Macau registered US$2.9 billion in revenues. Analysts said that they were expecting the industry to grow between 5 to 9 percent.

According to Asian Gaming Brief, analyst Robin Farley said: “Following better than expected growth in Jan-Feb combined, we believe GGR growth rates could remain at low-double digit rates in March-July as comps on YOY basis become easier. Our channel checks indicate that junket liquidity remains strong, supporting volume in the coming months. Strong VIP junket liquidity and volume should benefit Wynn and Galaxy the most, in our view.”