Sands China Ltd has maintained top spot in Macau in terms of market share of casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) during July, according to industry figures compiled by GGRAsia.
The Macau operations unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp gained 110 basis points of share in July compared to June, moving to a 23.8 percent share.
Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd in July maintained the second spot it had held in June, gaining 30 basis points to move to 22.6 percent.
SJM Holdings Ltd, founded by gaming tycoon Stanley Ho Hung Sun, stayed in third place in the Macau market in July, but lost 160 basis points of GGR share month-on-month, to end the month on 20.3 percent.
Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd was in fourth place in July, with a share of 14.2 percent, gaining 10 basis points month-on-month.
The other strong performer in July in terms of gain of share was Wynn Macau Ltd, in fifth spot with a 90 basis points improvement to 9.7 percent. But MGM China Holdings Ltd, in sixth position, experienced an 80 basis points decrease in share finishing the month on 9.4 percent.
Investment analysts note that monthly variations in house win rates for casino table games can have some impact on GGR share.
City wide, casino GGR for July fell by 34.5 percent year-on-year to MOP18.62 billion (US$2.33 billion), according to data from the city’s regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, also known as DICJ. It was the 14th straight month of GGR retreat measured year-on-year.
But David Bain, of brokerage Sterne Agee CRT, said in a note on Monday that there had been a slowing in consecutive months regarding the rate of year-on-year monthly GGR decline.
“July marks the fifth consecutive month of ‘less bad’ year-on-year growth results – a trend we expect to continue through the remainder of the year,” stated Mr Bain.
Cameron McKnight, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities LLC, said in a note on Monday that his institution thought it possible the consecutive easing in the rate of year-on-year monthly GGR decline could continue into August.
“We estimate August growth to track at around -30 percent to -35 percent year-on-year. This assumes August same store ADR [average daily revenue] will trend in line with historical seasonality (up 4 percent month-on-month on average) and takes into account the ramp of Galaxy Phase 2,” stated Mr McKnight, referring latterly to Galaxy Entertainment’s extension to its flagship Galaxy Macau property on Cotai. The HKD19.6-billion (US$2.5-billion) extension opened on May 27.
