Ongoing enforcement of the new casino-wide smoking ban, the capture of an illegal Point of Sale payment terminal syndicate and declining visitation ahead of Chinese New Year have all contributed to a slower than expected start to the month for Macau’s operators.
According to brokerage Bernstein’s weekly GGR report, Macau’s gaming revenue through the first 13 days of January currently sits 7% lower than during the same period in 2018 and 8% below the full January 2018 average, despite GGR for the week between 8 and 14 January showing a 12% improvement year-on-year.
January’s estimated GGR during the first two weeks is MOP$10.1 billion at an average daily rate of MOP$777 million – 9% down on December and 7% lower than November – with both mass and GGR said to be down high-single digit percentage points.
Bernstein’s analysts are now predicting final January GGR to come in between 8% and 12% lower than January last year – the first time in 30 months that Macau’s year-on-year GGR has fallen.
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