Macau’s gross gaming revenue fell 8.6% year-on-year in August to MOP$24.26 billion – the second lowest amount for the year after June’s MOP$23.81 billion.
The decline, which saw GGR miss estimates by some margin, comes in the wake of numerous headwinds for the industry, including negativity surrounding VIP as a result of recent Chinese media reports, the ongoing US-China trade war and transport disruptions owing to the Hong Kong protests.
According to JP Morgan’s DS Kim and Jeremy An, VIP GGR likely declined by 26% to 28% for the month with mass up by around 7%, although “the mass segment came as a bigger disappointment as our mid-month checks and Macau trips suggested no sign of mass slowdown.”
IAG understands rolling chip volume for Macau’s top four junkets has declined by around 30% year-on-year.
August’s results mean that Macau’s GGR for the first eight months of 2019 is now down 1.9% to MOP$198.22 billion.
Early estimates have September revenue enjoying a slight 1% to 2% year-on-year improvement.
