Macau gaming revenue remains strong after Chinese New Year

Macau’s gross gambling revenue is reported to have hit its highest daily rate since the Golden Week holiday in May last year.

Macau.- Sanford C Bernstein Ltd has reported Macau’s gross gambling revenue for the week after Chinese New Year hit its highest daily rate since the Golden Week holiday in May last year. GGR increased by 29 per cent week-on-week for an average daily rate of MOP428m (US$53.3m).

The best rate since the onset of the pandemic was MOP600m during last May’s Golden Week. Bernstein noted that visitation last week was actually 37 per cent lower than during the May holiday, indicating a stronger average spend per visitor.

It’s another boost for casinos after GGR for the Chinese New Year period itself (between February 1 and 6) was up 60 per cent when compared to 2021. Sanford C Bernstein Ltd wrote that mass GGR is driven by strong visitation and premium play post-holiday. VIP also improved despite the hold rate dropping back to normal.

Analyst Vitaly Umansky forecast Macau’s February GGR would be down 64 per cent compared to February 2019, but up circa 45 per cent from January 2022. 

JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd also shared its report: “GGR for the first 13 days of February is estimated at MOP5.0 billion (US$622.1m) or MOP384 million per day, representing 40 per cent-plus of pre-Covid levels,” they said. 

See also: Melco reaches average occupancy rate of 70% during Chinese New Year