The head of Macau’s government, Ho Iat Seng (pictured), said on Wednesday that city-wide casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) for full-year 2023 was likely to exceed MOP180 billion (US$22.39 billion).
Under the new concession contracts with the city’s six operators, that came into place last January, if Macau’s annual GGR reached or exceeded MOP180 billion, the casino firms would have to increase their collective MOP108.7 billion non-gaming and overseas-marketing spending pledges by up to 20 percent.
On the sidelines of a reception to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the Macau Special Administrative Region, the city’s Chief Executive (CE) Mr Ho said GGR had reached over MOP160 billion by November, surpassing the government’s initial expectation of MOP130 billion.
It was anticipated that full-year revenue would exceed MOP180 billion, he added, as quoted in a government press release.
No mention was made – either in the press release or other reports of Mr Ho’s comments – of what additional non-gaming spend might be required from casino operators as a result of that threshold being passed.
Macau’s GGR for the first 11 months of the year stood at just above MO164.49 billion, up 324.9 percent from the comparable period in 2022, according to an announcement from the local regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
Brokerage JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd estimated in a note on Monday that Macau’s full-December GGR would reach circa MOP17 billion, or an average daily run rate of about MOP550 million, as the city’s gaming revenue was expected to “edge up further” in the remaining days of the month, into the year-end holidays.
