Macau strengthens its casino sector

Investors would be interested in the Asian gambling capital once again.

Macau.- The exclusive casino hub in China is recovering from a two-year economic crisis. Macau gross gaming revenue (GGR) results issued on Tuesday 1 show an 8.8 percent of increment last month, which surpassed the 6.6 percent expectations commented during October. Investors have started to express their interesting in the gaming city once again.

October is the third month of the year which noted a positive growth in Macau’s casino industry. In comparison with September, the sector achieved a 1.8 percent of increment. After the statement, Wynn Resorts’ stock was up 4 percent in active trading. MGM Resorts and Las Vegas Sands announced their shares were ahead as much as 2 percent intraday, also in above-average volumes.

According to specialists, the exceeding analysts’ estimation was due to an extra weekend day in October. Nomura analyst Harry Curtis estimated the month would have been up about 6 percent on a year-over-year basis “after normalising” for the extra day. “On the whole, we have somewhat mixed feelings on the October GGR print, and encourage investors to temper their enthusiasm accordingly,” added Stifel analyst Steven Wieczynski.

“Though better-than-expected GGR performance during the first full month comprising both of the market’s recent new openings is clearly a positive sign, our market sources suggest the majority of the strength was VIP-driven. That said, we view the comp cautiously, as we acknowledge the volatility inherent in the VIP business and suspect operators may have ratcheted up promotional efforts to help stimulate demand in order to support the recent new openings,” Wieczynski explained.