Macau’s gross gaming revenue for the first 12 days of November is tracking at around 28% higher than the same period last year but could be hurt by this weekend’s Macau Grand Prix which has historically dampened GGR, according to brokerage Sanford C Bernstein.
In its weekly GGR update, Bernstein has revenue for the month pegged at MOP$9.35 billion for an average daily rate (ADR) of MOP$779 million, a substantial increase on the average MOP$608 million Macau’s operators took from 1 to 13 November 2016. Those figures have been driven across all segments, with VIP up by around 35% year-on year, while, “Foot traffic at casinos in Macau has been heavy based on our recent visit helping lift Base Mass, with strong volumes in Premium Mass as well.”
Nevertheless, analysts Vitaly Umansky, Zhen Gong and Cathy Huang warn that, “The upcoming Macau Grand Prix has historically dampened GGR in Macau.
“Further, the last week of November is all weekdays. As such, assuming a reduced GGR ADR of MOP$710 million to MOP$730 million for the remaining days of the month, we estimate November GGR to a range of MOP$22.1 billion to MOP$22.5 billion – an estimated year-on-year increase in November of +18% to +20% … but could be higher should a slowdown in the second part of the month not materialize.”
