Macau posts US$31.2m in GGR for first week of September

Macau’s daily GGR was about MOP250m (US$31.2m) for the first week of September.

Macau.- Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd and JP Morgan Securities have reported that Macau’s daily gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first week of September was MOP250m (US$31.2m), showing a slight recovery from the previous month.

According to analysts, the recovery anticipates an increase in visitor numbers during the October Golden Week, when the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) predicts the city could receive 25,000 visitors per day.

JP Morgan pointed out that estimates for the first five days of September indicate that GGR was tracking at approximately 34 per cent of demand in September 2019 – the month’s last pre-pandemic comparison. 

GGR in early September was also lower than the MOP272m reached per day in July, when the market showed signs of recovery after authorities ended restrictions for those coming from Guangdong as Covid-19 cases declined.

In July, Macau reported gross gambling revenue of MOP8.44bn (US$1.05bn), up 29 per cent when compared with the previous month. However, the city saw a decline in August, a month that was impacted by local cases of Covid-19 and hundreds of cancelled flights. At MOP$4.44bn (US$554.5m), August’s GGR was the lowest since September 2020.

JP Morgan estimates that between September 1 and 5, mass gambling recovered to about 35 per cent to 40 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels and VIP returned to about 25 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Analysts said that compared to the second quarter of 2019, the recovery of mass and VIP was 45 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.

Deutsche Bank forecasts Macau’s GGR for 2021 will reach US$12.1bn

After the drop in Macau’s GGR for August, analysts at Deutsche Bank reviewed their previous forecasts for 2021 and now forecasts full-year GGR of MOP$97bn (US$12.1bn), down 67 per cent from pre-pandemic levels.

Analysts had previously predicted Macau’s GGR for the year could reach US$19.29bn, up 155 per cent year-on-year.

Carlo Santarelli, managing director of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., predicted third-quarter results would see nearly US$2.4bn in gaming results and the fourth quarter figure around US$3.5bn.

According to Santarelli, US$1.5bn in Q3 will come from the mass-market segment and US$917.9m from VIP tables.

As for the full-year GGR, US$7.7bn will come from the mass market segment, up 82 per cent year-on-year, while VIP tables will bring in US$4.3bn.