Macau GGR continues to improve through March

Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) reached MOP5.85bn (US$731.3m) for the first 21 days of March.

Macau.- Gross gaming revenues (GGR) from Macau casinos reached MOP$307m (US$38m) per day in the third week of March, marking the third consecutive week of sequential improvement.

In the second week of the month, Macau’s casinos had seen gross gaming revenues of US$34m per day.

According to analysts at the brokerage Sanford C Bernstein, weekly average GGR jumped 13 per cent week-on-week, and 18 per cent from February’s daily average.

GGR for the first 21 days of March reached MOP5.85bn (US$731.3m).

Although the results are a cause for optimism, analysts predict that March’s full-month tally will remain down by around 65 per cent against the same period in 2019.

Bernstein estimates that VIP volume is up by between 5 per cent and 7 per cent against February 2021, while mass volume is up by between 6 per cent and 8 per cent.

Macau casinos look to Hong Kong

Casino operators continue to eagerly await the opening of travel from Hong Kong, which provides 10 to 15 per cent of Macau’s annual casino gross gaming revenue (GGR).

Analysts said: “We expect visitation and GGR to slowly improve during March and April but without a major change to Covid-19 testing requirements for entry into Macau and the opening of Hong Kong, GGR and visitation will remain well below normal levels.”

Last week the Macau government announced that arrivals from Hong Kong would have to undergo a quarantine of 14 days instead of 21 days plus seven days of health self-management.