Macau’s gross gaming revenues plummeted by 96.8% year-on-year to just MOP$754 million in April, according to data released by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
The result, largely in line with dire estimates put forward by analysts, comes after Guangdong Province introduced mandatory 14-day quarantine for all arrivals from Macau, including local Guangdong residents, driving visitation into Macau to near zero.
For the first four months of 2020, Macau’s GGR is down 68.7% year-on-year to MOP$31.24 billion compared with MOP$99.74 billion over the same period in 2019.
Credit Suisse equity analyst Kenneth Fong said the final figure came as no surprise but tipped a relatively fast recovery in the near future, pending relaunch of the Individual Visit Scheme.
“Looking ahead, we believe VIP should see a faster recovery,” Fong wrote in a Friday note. “We estimate the pent-up demand will help the VIP business to recover to 50% once borders reopen and likely reach 100% of the pre-virus level in summer time.
“On the other hand, mass recovery is likely to be more gradual. We expect mass GGR to back to around 70% to 80% by summer holidays as China may reopen IVS visa in phases, and 90% to 100% by end of the year.”
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