Macau saw a substantial fall in visitation last week due to the annual running of the Macau Grand Prix but remains on track to record year-on-year growth of between 2% and 4% in November, according to brokerage Bernstein.
In a Monday note, analysts Vitaly Umansky, Eunice Lee and Kelsey Zhu estimated an average daily rate of MOP$771 million in gross gaming revenue last week, 2% higher than in November 2017 and taking the monthly total to around MOP$14.6 billion – up 6% on the same period last year.
However, that figure represents an 8% decline on October numbers, which were boosted by Golden Week.
“Visitation slowed down compared to the first 11 days of the month, likely (or at least partly) because some players delayed their trip to avoid the Macau Grand Prix,” the Bernstein note said.
“Average VIP daily volume is estimated to be down mid-single digits % month-on-month, whereas VIP hold rate stayed around 3.1%, slightly higher than normal range. Mass GGR is also estimated to be down high-single digits % month-on-month.”
Bernstein has maintained its estimate for November GGR of between MOP$23.5 billion and MOP$24 billion, representing an increase of between 2% and 4%.
