Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the seven days from 12 to 18 May, is estimated to have averaged MOP$593 million ($73.6 million) per day, according to a note from Citigroup. This represents a 3 percent increase over the prior week period.
GGR within expected seasonality
According to the note, the weekly run rate maintains gaming revenues within expected seasonality. This follows Macau’s GGR experiencing a sharp 44 percent week-on-week drop in average daily revenue (ADR) following the May’s Golden Week holiday. This comes after the first 11 days of May, where Macau registered GGR of MOP8.55 billion, according to a HSBC investment note. It was significant because, historically, the second week of May usually sees a 25-35 percent decline in run rate compared to the first week.
The Golden week glow fading was significantly noted as Macau welcomed more than 850,000 visitors over the five-day holiday from May 1st to May 5th— averaging more than 170,000 arrivals each day. This was significant as the arrivals surpassed the projections made by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) of 700,000 visitors.
Citigroup analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau estimate that Macau’s GGR for the first 18 days of May reached MOP$12.7 billion ($1.58 billion). They project the full-month figure to hit MOP$21 billion. The estimated figure is up 4 percent year-on-year and marks a return to 81 percent of pre-COVID GGR levels.
Concerts to support YOY growth: Citi
The analysts said that supporting the year-on-year growth is a growth concert-line-up at Macau’s integrated resorts. Integrated resorts now pull crowds with big-name concerts and entertainment offerings, which draw high-value customers. With Sammi Cheng’s shows on 24 and 25 May, Show Lo on 31 May, and Leon Lai’s 10-show series on 31 May, these high-end concerts are expected to drive volumes.
For the month of April, Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) reported a 1.7 percent rise in total gaming revenue. In April, GGR totaled MOP18.86 billion. While it was up from the corresponding period, it marked a decline of 4.1 percent sequentially. As per analysts, the figure was pumped by the Easter holiday period from 18-21 April. Cumulatively, GGR for the four months of this year totaled MOP76.51 billion, marginally up 0.8 per cent year-on-year. However, the figure is 23.3 per cent lower than the same period of 2019.
