Morgan Stanley lowers Macau GGR forecast for March
Morgan Stanley says Macau casino revenue fell short of expectations in February.
Macau.- Morgan Stanley has revised downwards its forecast for Macau’s casino revenue in March to MOP19bn (US$2.37bn), citing underperformance in February.
February’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) fell at the lower end of analysts’ projections, at MOP18.49bn (US$2.29bn). That’s a drop of 4.4 per cent month-on-month but up 79.1 per cent when compared to last February. Analysts had anticipated figures ranging from MOP18bn to MOP19.8bn.
While Chinese New Year visitation from mainland China saw an increase compared to the previous Golden Week last October, daily GGR saw only modest growth, up by 1.3 per cent. Analysts attribute this to weaker post-New Year spending and/or low VIP luck, since MLCO and Galaxy noted Mass GGR recoveries of 122 per cent and 122 per cent, respectively.
Earlier this week, Deutsche Bank Securities estimated that Macau’s GGR for March will amount to US$2.42bn, up 5.7 per cent sequentially. Cumulatively, Macau’s GGR for the first two months of 2024 was MOP37.82bn, up 72.7 per cent from the prior-year period.
