The Macau gaming industry continued its impressive resurgence in August, with gross gaming revenues climbing to MOP$17.21 billion (US$2.12 billion).
According to information from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), the August figure was 686% higher-year-on-year and also 3.3% higher than July’s figure of MOP$16.66 billion (US$2.06 billion), making it yet another post-COVID record for Macau’s gaming operators.
For the first eight months of 2023 combined, Macau’s GGR is MOP$114.0 billion (US$14.1 billion), up 295% year-on-year. This means GGR has climbed back to 57.5% of the MOP$198.22 billion (US$24.5 billion) reported across the same period in 2019.
The improvement in revenues in August comes after all six concessionaires reported strong volumes in the premium gaming segments during their 2Q23 earnings calls, while Citi analyst George Choi pointed to the return of more “whales” in recent weeks.
Morgan Stanley analysts said they expect most Macau concessionaires to return to 80% of pre-COVID EBITDA levels in 3Q23 with MGM China to surge to 120% on the back of its additional gaming table supply.