Gaming taxes in Macau drop 13.3 pct
According to the Financial Services Bureau, gaming taxes in Macau amounted to €1.01 billion in January, down 13.3% year-on-year.
Macau.- The coronavirus pandemic has been all around the Asian and global news lately, but Macau continues to roll. However, the outbreak hit gaming industry’s taxes in Macau, which saw a considerable drop in January.
During the first month of 2020, the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) recorded €1.01 billion coming to state coffers. That means gaming taxes in Macau fell 13.3% year-on-year, mostly due to the coronavirus.
Macau gaming
The gaming industry in Macau resumed operations last Wednesday, after being shut down for 15 days to avoid a coronavirus from spreading in the region. 29 of the city’s 41 casinos reopened at 12 am local time.
The remaining 12 casinos asked the government for permission to delay the reopening. Macau had given Macau’s six operators 30 days to get back into business earlier this month.
The 12 casinos that will remain closed until further notice are: Sands Cotai Centre, Melco’s Altira, Galaxy’s Waldo, Rio and President; SJM’s Oceanus, Eastern, Macau Jockey Club, Golden Dragon and Casino Taipa; and Macau Palace and Greek Mythology (which haven’t been operating for a few years).
Nomura Instinet analyst Harry Curtis explained that it will take time for the industry to fully recover, and that the breakthrough will come once China resumes its individual visit schemes (IVS).
“The consensus among local operators we connected with over the weekend is that there will be little material improvement in visitation, GGR and EBITDA until the IVS and tour group customers are permitted to cross the border, which may not normalise for another six weeks,” Curtis said. “The reopening is akin to keeping a body alive without the food required to sustain it,” he warned.
The shutdown was one of the main reasons gaming taxes went down in Macau last month.
