By Ben Blaschke
Macau’s surging gaming industry enjoyed another impressive month in April, with gross gaming revenue rising 27.6% year-on-year to MOP$25.7 billion.
The figure represents 21 consecutive months of GGR growth for Asia’s gaming hub and easily beat consensus which had the increase coming in at closer to 20%. Macau has now raked in MOP$102.2 billion in the first four months of 2018, rising 22.2% over the same period last year.
April’s average daily revenue of MOP$859 million also puts it in line with Macau’s other recent holidays – October’s Golden Week and the recent Chinese New Year – with Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen predicting a record number of arrivals crossing the border during the current holiday period.
“Based on our on-the-ground observations and conversations we’ve had with operators, we believe Macau is in the midst of a very strong holiday period,” he said in a Tuesday note.
“The mass market, which grew at a ~20% clip in 1Q18, has accelerated in April and now into May. We think a record number of persons crossing Macau’s borders could be established during this holiday, reiterating that mass continues to surprise to the upside.”
Govertsen pointed to Galaxy Entertainment Group and Sands China as the two operators likely to benefit most from the recent surge in mass but added “we expect all of Macau’s Big 6 to reap the benefits of the current market conditions.”
May GGR is currently tipped to come in at just under 20% growth.
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