Higher commissions and operating expenses are expected to offset support from above-normal VIP win rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Macau.- Macau\u2019s casino operators are expected to report an 11 per cent year-on-year decline in third-quarter EBITDA to US$1.84bn<\/strong>, as weaker gross gaming revenue and higher operating costs weigh on profitability. That’s according to the brokerage CLSA<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The outlook highlights the difficulty of converting visitor growth into gaming revenue while higher commissions add pressure to margins. CLSA forecasts third-quarter GGR at MOP60.2bn (US$7.45bn), which would represent a 3.8 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year. Operators\u2019 commissions and rebates are expected to reach US$1.54bn, up from US$1.44bn a year earlier and reaching 20.7 per cent of GGR compared to 18.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CLSA said operating expenses remain under pressure, with Sands China expected to show a 12 per cent year-on-year increase due to changes in its player reinvestment strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking ahead, CLSA maintains a neutral outlook for the next six months, forecasting GGR to drop around 1 per cent in the fourth quarter and to grow 2 per cent in 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Higher commissions and operating expenses are expected to offset support from above-normal VIP win rates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":16510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Macau casino operators are projected to experience an 11% year-on-year decline in Q3 EBITDA to US$1.84bn, driven by weaker GGR and escalating operating costs. CLSA forecasts a 3.8% decrease in Q3 GGR, with increased commissions and player reinvestment strategies further pressuring margins. The outlook suggests challenges in converting visitor growth into gaming revenue.","focusai_entities":"CLSA, Sands China","focusai_location":"Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), operator_casino (0.95), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.85)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Macau GGR Conversion","query":"What specific strategies are Macau operators implementing to improve visitor-to-GGR conversion rates amidst rising operating costs and commissions?"},{"label":"Margin Pressure Mitigation","query":"How are operators planning to mitigate the impact of increased commissions and player reinvestment strategies on their EBITDA margins?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16338],"tags":[25002,24816,24944,257],"class_list":["post-777048543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-east-asia-news","tag-clsa","tag-ebitda","tag-forecast","tag-macau"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777048543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777048543"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777048543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777048568,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777048543\/revisions\/777048568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777048543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777048543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777048543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}