GGRAsia – Macau casino performance shows improvement: analysts

Macau casino performance shows improvement: analysts

May 28, 2014 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Casino gross gaming revenue in Macau showed some sequential improvement last week, three analysts say.

Investment bank Wells Fargo announced it was revising its Macau casino gross gaming revenue growth estimate for May to 13 percent to 15 percent over the same period one year ago, based on improved performance. Its earlier estimate pointed to a growth rate between 10 percent to 14 percent.

Casino gross gaming revenue in Macau reached MOP133.5 billion (US$16.7 billion) in the first four months of this year, up by 17.5 percent on year-on-year terms, data from the gaming regulator shows. Casinos raked in MOP29.6 billion in May last year.

Analysts at brokerage firm Nomura also noted that Macau’s table gross gaming revenue last week improved from the previous week. That brought the run rate for May to a projected annual growth between 14 to 16 percent, fuelled by strong results on the mass market.

U.S.-based Sterne Agee brokerage said in a note to customers on Monday that its forecast for May continued to suggest gross gaming revenue growth of between 12 percent and 17 percent. But analyst David Bain noted the positive trends from the week ended last Sunday, saying average daily table gaming gross revenue was up 12 percent to the previous week (May 11 to May 18), standing at MOP1.03 billion.