Deutsche Bank Securities Inc says Macau’s industry-wide margin for property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the third quarter was above the comparable period in 2019, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the institution, the industry-wide EBITDA margin stood at 29.3 percent in the three months to September 30, compared to 29.0 percent in third-quarter 2019. Combined property EBITDA however was still down circa 20.0 percent from 2019 levels, at just below US$1.80 billion.
The calculations by Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli were published on Tuesday, after all the Macau six gaming operators reported their third-quarter financial results.
According to the memo, Macau’s mass-market gross gaming revenue (GGR) – as reported by the city’s casino firms – reached 95 percent of pre-Covid level in the July to September period.
Combined mass GGR stood at US$5.35 billion in the third quarter this year, compared to nearly US$5.59 billion in the same period of 2019. The figure was up 760.0 percent in year-on-year terms, according to data from Deutsche Bank.
Third-quarter VIP GGR however was down circa 77.0 percent versus the comparable period in 2019, at US$722 million. It was up about 848.7 percent on the prior-year period.
Aggregate GGR for the period – as reported by the local gaming regulator – was down 31 percent on third-quarter 2019, at just below US$6.11 billion. The figure was up 779.6 percent from the same period a year earlier.
In October, Macau GGR rose by 30.6 percent month-on-month, at just over MOP19.50 billion (US$2.42 billion), which was the best monthly performance since January 2020, at the very beginning of the pandemic.
The latest data took Macau’s GGR for the 10 months to October 31 to nearly MOP148.45 billion, up 315.6 percent from the comparable 2022 period.
