Casino revenue down in Macau
The first month of the fourth quarter of the year presented negative results for Macau, which is on its way to record a bad end of the year.
Macau.- The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau of Macau has released the financial figures for October operations. During that period, gross gaming revenue (GGR) declined 3.2% to €2.9 billion when compared to the same month in 2018.
Revenue in the region was down because of a decrease in high roller visitation during national holidays. This is due to the US-China trade war and political issues in neighbouring Hong Kong.
Macau collected €2.9 billion in October, which is 3.2% lower than the €2.4 billion that it had reported in September. Last month also marked a negative trend in which Macau only posted growth in one of the last four months, as it recorded a 0.6% increase in September. In August it registered a 9% drop, while July experienced a 4% setback.
Year-to-date figures indicate that Macau is 2% down when compared to 2018, but analyst projections show that Macau is likely to end the fourth quarter on a bad note.
Macau’s gaming sector experiences healthy development
Macau’s government released last month a report in which it studied the first three years of the implementation of Macau SAR Five-Year Development Plan. Between 2016 and 2018, Macau’s gaming sector experienced healthy development and even surpassed some expectations.
The report says that the annual casino game table growth rate totalled 2.8% between 2013 and 2018, which is under the 3% rate planned by the government, Macau Business detailed. Non-gaming revenue dropped from 10.7% in 2016 to 9.9% in 2018, higher than the 9% rate estimated for 2020.
Macau also expected local residents to hold 85% of mid-level or higher management positions. The number surpassed the government’s expectations in 2018, as it rose to 88.1%.
The percentage of the number of local suppliers in Macau has increased from 46.8% in 2016 to 49.6% in 2018. Local authorities expect that number to increase to 50% by 2020. Moreover, the number of local companies contracted by concessionaires totalled 493 companies in 2016 and 660 in 2018.
