Banking institution Citigroup says the the Macau market has seen the number of number of ‘whales’ – defined as players that have a bet size of HKD100,000 (US$12,842) or more – and the amount wagered by them so far this year, “exceed” the levels seen in full-year 2023.
“Year-to-date, we saw 228 whales wagering a total of HKD43.3 million. These stats exceed that of financial-year 2023, at HKD39.7 million from 224 whales,” stated Citigroup following its September premium mass table survey in Macau.
“Average wager from ‘players of the month’ in the year-to-date was HKD655,000, circa 43-percent higher versus financial-year 2023’s average of HKD457,000,” wrote analyst George Choi.
He added: “Their spending trend seems to be accelerating, with the average over the past five months being higher at HKD728,000.”
According to the analyst, the data compiled so far this year “continue to show that these affluent players are still able and willing to spend in Macau, despite the current state of the economy in China”.
The latter was understood to be a reference to consumer confidence on the Chinese mainland, which investment analysts say it has shown a “weaker sentiment” in recent months. Mainland China is the main feeder market for the Macau tourism sector.
Total premium mass wager observed in the September survey amounted to approximately HKD11.9 million, 36-percent higher from the HKD8.8 million observed in the same month a year ago. The number of premium mass players seen in this month’s survey amounted to 613, a 42-percent increase from a year ago.
“Despite the much higher player count, wager/player this month fell slightly by 5 percent year-on-year to HKD19,389,” observed Mr Choi. “In our view, this shows that the quality of premium-mass players in general remains robust.”
The Citigroup analyst saw a total of 21 ‘whales’ wagering in Macau casinos during the September survey, up from the 17 such players observed a year earlier.
Sands China Ltd ranked first in Citigroup’s latest premium mass survey, accounting for a circa 26-percent share in the total wager observed, up from a 22-percent share in August this year.
According to the institution, Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd “recently launched a rebranding programme” of its premium-mass products, with this month’s survey showing that the casino firm achieved a “17-percent share in total wager observed”.
“This is significantly higher than the average of about 13.5 percent share in total wager observed in [the first] eight months of 2024,” stated Citigroup.
“Based on the quality of the whales we saw at Studio City this month, we believe the rebranding programme is already yielding some early success,” it added, referring to Melco Resorts’ majority-owned casino property in Cotai.
