Macau sees best monthly GGR in 12 months

Macau GGR for January increased by 2.6 per cent month-on-month compared to December, but doubts remain over forecasts for February.

Macau.- The gaming industry saw its best monthly performance since the Covid-19 pandemic began last month with a 2.6 per cent increase in gross gaming revenue (GGR) compared to the previous month.

GGR for January came in at MOP8bn (US$1bn, the best monthly result in 12 months, surpassing the months of Golden Week and the Christmas holiday periods.

However, the numbers remained down by 63.7 per cent year-on-year.

According to analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein, GGR “continued to be negatively impacted by visitation bottlenecks due to visa processing and Covid[-19] test requirement, and by weakness in VIP volumes.”

Doubts remain over forecasts for February as an increase in Covid-19 cases in mainland China has led to the government to advise citizens against travel during the lunar new year holiday period.

Bernstein suggested that Chinese New Year tourism to Macau will be impacted: “The travel impediments will lead certainly to reduced visitation (versus earlier forecasts) into Macau for the next few weeks at least, with Chinese New Year visitation being impacted.”