Macau’s gross gaming revenues continue to plummet, down another 25% week-on-week to just MOP$75 million (US$9.3 million) per day for the eight days from 11 to 18 April 2022.
According to brokerage Bernstein’s weekly channel checks, month-to-date GGR for the first 18 days of the month is just MOP$1.6 billion (US$197 million) with an average daily rate of MOP$89 million (US$11 million) – down 89% on April 2019 and 68% lower than April 2021. Mass GGR is estimated to be down 30% compared with March and VIP GGR down in the mid-20% range.
The past week’s daily GGR is its lowest since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2020, when China resumed IVS travel into Macau.
However, Bernstein analyst Vitaly Umansky said there is no sign of the situation improving anytime soon despite Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre this week relaxing the COVID-19 test requirement for arrivals from Guangdong Province from 24 to 48 hours. As noted by Umansky, Macau now has quarantine requirements in place for travelers from more than 40 cities in 23 provinces throughout mainland China.
The decline in GGR comes with mainland China placing around 55 million people under various forms of lockdown, including most of Shanghai, under its strict zero-COVID policy.
“Despite [a] slight rebound in visitation (and the rebound is not from casino customers) and relaxation of border policy, there remains uncertainty as some Guangdong cities, including Guangzhou and Shenzhen, are still reporting local cases,” Umansky said. “Any COVID outbreaks in Zhuhai and/or Macau could force the border to close (or further restrict passage) as well.”
Umansky has lowered his GGR estimate for April, now expecting an 88% decline on April 2019 revenues and 23% decline versus March 2022, when Macau GGR reached just MOP$3.67 billion (US$459 million).
