Macau’s May casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) was up 24.8 percent month-on-month, according to data released on Wednesday by the local regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
May GGR was just above MOP3.34 billion (US$413.4 million), versus the MOP2.68 billion achieved in April. The GGR tally in April was the lowest in nearly 20 months, near the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The GGR figure last month was down 68.0 percent from the MOP10.45 billion achieved in May 2021.
The May 2022 GGR result takes calendar-year Macau GGR to MOP23.79 billion, down 44.0 percent on the first five months of 2021.
Investment analysts had said there had been some “demand recovery after the post-holiday seasonality/slowdown” in early May, referring to GGR performance during a week-long holiday in China surrounding Labour Day on May 1.
The May GGR figure “shouldn’t come as a surprise given mobility curbs and weak travel sentiment (especially for cross-provincial and cross-border trips) in mainland China, as well as tighter border policy,” said a Wednesday note by JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd.
“We view these GGR prints as non-events, until a reasonable level of traffic flow resumes with gradual easing of China’s travel/border policy,” wrote analyst DS Kim, Amanda Cheng and Livy Lyu.
The Macau authorities announced on Wednesday that from Thursday, people intending to travel to Macau from neighbouring Guangdong province, in mainland China, must hold a nucleic acid test certificate issued within seven days proving they are ‘negative’ for Covid-19 infection. That is a relaxation from the previously-maintained 72 hours.
The Chinese mainland is the only place currently to have a largely quarantine-free travel arrangement with Macau.
Brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd noted that May “recorded the second-lowest monthly average daily revenue since September 2020, when China resumed Individual Visit Scheme travel with Macau, only better than April 2022.
“The Covid travel impediments and potential visa control on frequent gamblers may continue to impact near-term visitation and GGR,” said analysts Vitaly Umansky, Louis Li and Shirley Yang in a Wednesday memo.
The institution said it forecast June’s average daily revenue to be up 47 percent month-on-month, “but could still be lower if travel does not pick up during the month.”
(Updated at 6.50pm, Jun 1)
