GGR and hotel bookings keep Macau gaming stocks stable
HSBC says the recent market correction may have been overdone.
Macau.- A report from HSBC notes that Macau gaming operators’ stocks are holding steady, mainly thanks to stable daily gross gaming revenue (GGR) and high hotel bookings ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays.
According to the report by analysts Charlene Liu, Jessie Lu and Lauren Cai, GGR for the first 21 days of January reached MOP13bn (US$1.6bn), indicating an average daily run-rate (ADR) of MOP629m. That’s a 5 per cent increase compared to the preceding week.
If the daily run-rate is maintained for the remainder of January, full-month GGR is projected to reach MOP18.5bn to 19bn, signifying a recovery to 74-76 per cent of 2019 levels. The analysts at HSBC believe that the market correction may have been overdone. Despite concerns regarding weak consumer spending, there are positive signs such as steady ADR performance and solid bookings suggesting market fundamentals remain strong.
Year-to-date visitor arrivals to Macau have been averaging between 70,000 to 80,000 per day. The Macau government expects this number to rise to 120,000 during the Chinese New Year holiday.
Macau registered 28.2m visitor arrivals in 2023, with a daily average of circa 77,000 tourists. This figure was up 394.9 per cent year-on-year and was equivalent to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic 2019 levels. December’s GGR was up 15.8 per cent month-on-month from MOP16.04bn to MOP18.56bn (US$2.3bn).
