Casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Macau rose by 67.0 percent year-on-year in January to MOP19.34 billion (US$2.40 billion), according to data from the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau released on Thursday.
The January result – the second highest monthly tally pos-Covid – was up 4.1 percent compared to December’s MOP18.57 billion.
JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd said in a recent note that Macau’s daily casino GGR in January was showing a “robust run-rate” despite “weaker seasonality” ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday period.
The Chinese New Year holiday period falls on February 10 this year, and runs until February 17.
According to the brokerage, Macau’s mass revenue in January was running above 100 percent of pre-Covid levels.
Macau’s accumulated GGR for full-year 2023 grew by 333.8 percent year-on-year, to MOP183.06 billion, as travel and other Covid-19-related restrictions were still in place in Macau throughout 2022: these were discontinued from January last year.
As city-wide casino GGR for full-year 2023 exceeded MOP180 billion, it means the local six casino operators will have to increase their pledged non-gaming spending by 20 percent.
Under the 10-year concession contracts with the city’s government that came into place in January 2023, if Macau’s annual GGR reached or exceeded the MOP180-billion mark by 2027, the casino firms would have to increase by at least 20 percent their collective MOP108.7 billion non-gaming and overseas-marketing spending pledges for the 2023 to 2032 period.
