Macau casino spend per visitor rises in February, analysts say

CreditSights estimates that there was a 12 per cent increase in average GGR per visitor.

Macau.- CreditSights has reported that although the number of Macau casino patrons fell in February, spend per visitor was up. Analysts Nicholas Chen and David Bussey noted that visitor numbers declined by 4.4 per cent year-on-year but GGR was up by 6.8 per cent to MOP19.74bn ($2.5bn). Analysts said there was a 12 per cent increase in average GGR per visitor to MOP6,274 (US$783.3).

Macau received 3.15 million visitors in February. The year-on-year decline in numbers was probably because this year’s Chinese New Year holiday period ran from January 28 to February 4, while in 2023 the entire week fell in February.

Cumulatively, Macau’s GGR for the first two months of 2024 was MOP38bn, up 0.5 per cent from the prior-year period. Macau’s GGR for 2024 was MOP226.78bn (US$28.39bn), up 23.8 per cent year-on-year but down 22.45 per cent compared to 2019 levels (MOP292.45bn). The result surpassed the Macau government’s expectations.

Macau GGR reaches US$1.82bn in first 23 days of March, Citigroup says

Analysts at Citigroup have estimated that Macau’s GGR for the first 23 days of March was MOP14.6bn (US$1.82bn). The estimated GGR run rate was MOP635m per day.

Analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau said GGR is flat in year-on-year terms. The daily run rate for the week of March 17-23 was MOP643m (US$80.1m), a rise of 3 per cent compared to the previous week (MOP621m). Analysts said VIP volume fell by 8 to 10 per cent month-on-month and mass GGR by 7 to 9 per cent. They said the VIP hold rate appeared to be higher than the previous week’s.

Citigroup’s March 2025 GGR forecast remains unchanged at MOP19.5bn (US$2.43bn). Flat year-on-year, this would represent approximately 75 per cent of the March 2019 levels.