Macau stocks tied to China outlook: Bloomberg analyst

May 31, 2023 Newsdesk G2E Asia 2023: Singapore, Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Macau stocks in likelihood “have been punished too much because of China sentiment,” suggested Angela Hanlee, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

She was replying to a question from GGRAsia during a conference session on Wednesday at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2023 Special Edition: Singapore.

Early May saw two consecutive days of decline among most Macau casino-operator stocks, with one operator experiencing an 8.8 percent correction. That was despite improvements in Macau gross gaming revenue (GGR) following relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions in Macau and the Chinese mainland in early January. Subsequent to the early May stock declines, Macau names saw some volatility in valuations.

Ms Hanlee stated in her Wednesday presentation on the investment landscape in Asian gaming markets: “You can see the Macau numbers… gaming revenue numbers have been beating [forecasts] every month.”

But in terms of Macau operator share prices, investors are “not rewarding the beat, at all”. She added: “It’s not really fundamentals driven.”

Factors in likelihood included concern about “the China economy” slowing, and “geopolitical tension”.

The Hong Kong-based analyst stated: “Many [investment] funds are… excluding… quitting China [equity] positions.”

Among some investment funds, “the whole China team has gone… that’s what we hear. So, actually Hong Kong financial markets are really scary these days,” she added.

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