Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) grew by 18.1% to MOP$21.2 billion in March, comfortably beating consensus for the second consecutive month.
The result represents an eighth straight month of growth for Asia’s gaming hub after 26 months of decline and sits well above the 12% to 15% growth widely predicted throughout March.
Managing Director at Union Gaming Securities Asia, Grant Govertsen, said the result was largely due to stronger than expected VIP revenue, noting, “In both February and March it would appear that VIP has surged and is outgrowing mass on a year-to-year basis.
“We estimate that VIP GGR likely grew at a rate of 22% to 25% during March and mass continues to grow in the low double digits or low teens,” he said.
“For the past few quarters we’ve been calling Macau’s return to growth a ‘mass led’ recovery and we believe this was the case through January of this year. However … in this context we’re inclined to describe the current trends as a ‘mass anchored’ recovery as we still have a lot more confidence in the stability and visibility of mass over the near, medium, and longer terms. That said, we are encouraged to see VIP returning to high levels of growth – for now.”
Govertsen said that April GGR was likely to come in at between 13% and 15% growth with the possibility of +20% growth in June due to this period representing Macau’s low point in 2016.
