Macau casino sector to grow in 2020, Bernstein says

Despite a slow start to the year, the Macau casino looks set to improve during 2020

Macau.- Most analysts have already predicted a slow start for the industry, but it seems it won’t be a full year of doom and gloom. According to brokerage Sanford C Bernstein, the Macau casino sector will enjoy some growth in 2020.

The firm says GGR may grow by 8% thanks to 6% and 9% increases in the VIP and mass segments respecitvely.

“We forecast GGR growth of 8% year-on-year in 2020,” noted Sanford Bernstein analysts Vitaly Umansky, Kelsey Zhu and Eunice Lee.

“Concerns over the Chinese economy will moderate and liquidity issues will ease along with a potentially stronger RMB over the next six to 12 months. That should lead to a rebound in the VIP segment,” they said.

January

Last year was not the best performing 12 months for the Macanese market. Macau GGR will, however, continue to struggle, according to Japanese brokerage Nomura in its latest report.

“By segment, we estimate that average daily mass revenues are up approximately 5-7% year-on-year,” they revealed. Nomura also added that VIP volumes for the first five days of this year were tracking “approximately 15-20% lower” versus the same period last year.

The brokerage says that daily Macau GGR for January and February together “typically” improves 4-5% sequentially compared to December.