Casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Macau rose by 18.1 percent year-on-year in March, to MOP21.23 billion (US$2.65 billion), according to data from the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, released on Saturday.
Several investment analysts had forecast year-on-year growth for March of between 12 percent and 16 percent.
The official publication of the March number meant the Macau market’s GGR tally for the first three months of 2017 stood at MOP63.48 billion, up 13 percent from the prior-year period.
In a Thursday report, Japanese brokerage Nomura had forecast first-quarter GGR growth of 12 percent from the prior-year period, based on a mass GGR increase of 2 percent quarter-on-quarter and a 5 percent quarter-on-quarter increase in VIP GGR.
The gaming bureau will issue the first-quarter market split between mass and VIP at a later date.
