Macau GGR on the up in January

According to Bernstein analysts the first 10 days of the month have shown growth compared to December.

Macau.- The first week of the year has shown somewhat encouraging financial results for the gaming business in Macau. According to brokerage Bernstein, GGR grew by 13 per cent month-on-month in the first 10 days of January.

Analysts Vitaly Umansky, Tianjiao Yu and Kelsey Zhu estimated GGR of MOP$2.85bn (US$356.3m), that’s MOP$285m (US$35.6m) per day between January 1 and 10, up from an average of MOP$252m per day in December 2020.

Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported GGR of MOP$7.82bn (US$977.5m) in December, down 65.8 per cent year-on-year but the highest total since January 2020.

The current 10-day estimate represents a 68 per cent decline against the same period last year and a 60 per cent drop on January 2020 as a whole. VIP revenue was down in the mid-70 per cent range and mass market revenue down by just over 60 per cent.

Based on the current trend, GGR for January 2021 is likely to remain down by “low-to-mid 60 per cent ” year-on-year according to Bernstein.