Macau GGR reaches US$222.6m in first week of March
Analysts at JP Morgan Securities say the figure is in line with trends for the first two months of 2023.
Macau.- Casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first five days of March is estimated to be around MOP1.8bn (US$222.6m), or MOP360m per day, according to JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd. Analysts DS Kim and Mufan Shi noted that the estimate is consistent with the trend for the first two months of 2023, which saw MOP370m a day.
They added that the current figure represents a 40 to 45 per cent recovery compared to pre-Covid-19 levels for headline GGR, indicating that mass GGR may have recovered to 60 to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. However, JP Morgan cautioned that March is a seasonally volatile period for high-end demand in both VIP and premium mass.
The firm said it would not be wise to extrapolate data based on five days’ of information. However, it envisioned a rally in the future, saying that stocks could rise as more investors come back to the space following years of concerns regarding licence risks, a VIP clampdown, Hong Kong unrest and Covid-19.
In February, GGR fell by 10.8 per cent month-on-month to MOP10.32bn (US$1.27bn) but was up 33.1 per cent year-on-year.
Deutsche Bank raises Macau GGR forecast by 3.3%
Deutsche Bank Securities has revised its estimate for Macau’s 2023 casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) by 3.3 per cent. The move follows the easing of travel restrictions for mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong.
The new forecast is 2023 GGR of just over US$20.6bn. That compares to an earlier prediction of US$19.9bn made in November 2021.
Deutsche Bank’s updated forecast predicts a 28 per cent higher GGR than the Macau government’s own forecast. The aggregate Macau GGR for the first two months of this year is already 51.9 per cent of the 2022 total.
