Macau GGR up 6% in second week of September

Macau’s GGR for the second week of September rose 6 per cent, with average daily revenue of MOP264m.

Macau.- Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd has reported that Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the second week of September was up 6 per cent when compared to the previous week. Analysts highlighted the growth in GGR despite a new outbreak of Covid-19 cases in China’s Fujian province.

GGR for the current month is MOP3.1bn (US$387m) to date, down 65 per cent when compared to pre-pandemic levels, but up 80 per cent from August, a month that was impacted by local cases of Covid-19.

According to analysts, VIP average daily volume was up between 80 to 85 per cent month-on-month, while daily mass GGR was up 60 per cent from the previous month.

Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd expects Macau’s GGR for September will be down 60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels as long as the city won’t be affected by another Covid-19 outbreak.

However, analysts also noted it is unlikely Macau will return to April and August GGR levels until October when the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) predicted the city could receive 30,000 visitors per day during the October Golden Week.

Macau unlikely to ease travel limits this year

Macau is unlikely to remove its travel restrictions for people coming from places beyond mainland China before 2022.

However, analysts predicted GGR will start to improve in the fourth quarter. GGR in September could reach about 30 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and 40 per cent in October.

They added: “Longer term, Individual Visit Scheme eVisa, group visa restart, and Hong Kong travel resumption will be necessary to drive gross gaming revenue (GGR) upwards.”