Macau casino GGR growth cools in May: govt

Jun 01, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Macau rose by 12.1 percent year-on-year in May, to nearly MOP25.49 billion (US$3.15 billion), according to data released on Friday by the city’s regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

It meant the Macau market’s GGR tally for the first five months of 2018 stood at nearly MOP127.73 billion, a year-on-year expansion of 20.1 percent.

But May’s result was a moderation on the 27.6 percent year-on-year expansion witnessed in April.

Macau’s May casino GGR “missed” the consensus estimate of 17 percent  growth year-on-year, “due to poor VIP luck”, said a Friday note from analysts DS Kim and Sean Zhuang of JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd.

A Friday note from brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd said the May GGR result was “below consensus” and the institution’s prior estimate of 16-percent to 17-percent growth.

The brokerage added that Macau GGR for June and July might face a “headwind” from the FIFA World Cup 2018, an international soccer tournament to be held from June 14 to mid-July.

Sanford Bernstein additionally stated, referring to the soccer tournament, an event held every four years: “During the last two World Cups, [the month of] June saw 20 percent and 16 percent month-on-month decline in 2010 and 2014, respectively.”

(Updated 2.32pm, June 1)

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