Macau GGR up 14% in first week of December

Macau’s GGR for the first week of December was up 14 per cent week-on-week to MOP260m (US$32.4m).

Macau.- Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd has reported that Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first week of December was up 14 per cent week-on-week.  The average daily revenue between December 1 and 5 was MOP260m (US$32.4m).

Meanwhile, the number of foreign visitors continued to rise. The average number of visits was about 58,000, which makes December look set to beat May, which was the best month of the year so far thanks to the Labour Day break.

Month-to-date GGR was MOP1.3bn (US$162m), down 65 per cent when compared to pre-pandemic levels, but up 16 per cent month-on-month. Analysts at Sanford Bernstein predict that Macau’s GGR for December will be down 68 per cent when compared to December 2019 but up 9 per cent when compared to November, mainly due to an increase in mass table revenue.

Bernstein also said that after the unusually low level in November, the VIP holding rate has returned to a normal level of about 3 per cent.  The average daily rolling volume of VIP dropped by a mid-to-high percentage, while mass’s GGR increased by about 20 per cent compared to November.

On the arrest of Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, CEO of Suncity Group Holdings, analysts said: “Local sources indicate that the gaming regulator had instructed junkets to stop offering credit to customers (and only allow cash play) and Wynn and others are shuttering junkets.”

“Macau’s gaming market will improve in the medium term” – MGM CFO

As previously reported by Focus Gaming News, Jonathan Halkyard, MGM’s chief financial officer, has said that Macau’s gaming market will improve in the medium term. However, speaking in an online session at the Morgan Stanley Global Retail and Consumer Conference, he said that Macau’s gaming market performance will be irregular over the next six or twelve months.

He said: “I think it’s going to improve, but it’s unknowable at this point how quickly that will improve.”

Halkyard was also asked about Macau’s casino licences renewal and the review of the city’s gaming laws. He said: “I don’t know if we will make it by next June. But we feel like our company is in a very good position for concession retendering. 

“We’re taking the process very seriously of course, but we’re very optimistic about it.”