Macau’s mass gaming revenues recovered to better than 70% of pre-COVID levels by the end of March, reflecting a further relaxing of travel impediments for mainland Chinese visitors as industry-wide GGR again beat expectations, analysts said Monday.
As reported by IAG over the weekend, Macau booked GGR of MOP$12.74 billion (US$1.58 billion) for the month of March – once again the highest monthly tally since January 2020 following the reopening of borders on 8 January.
In a follow-up note, Credit Suisse analysts Kenneth Fong and Sardonna Fong said the step up in GGR was likely the result of the gradual reopening of packaged tours in China. This, they explained, helped daily GGR grow from between MOP$350 million and MOP$370 million (US$43 million and US$46 million) in mid-March to between MOP$480 million and MOP$500 million (US$59 million and US$62 million) by the end of the month.
According to Morgan Stanley’s DS Kim, the March print implies mass GGR has now reached 70% of pre-COVID levels for the industry, while VIP recovery of around 18% of pre-COVID levels “also looks pretty solid for a segment that was once considered completely ‘gone’.”
With 1Q23 results season just around the corner, Credit Suisse said operators should print positive EBITDA for the quarter.
They key focus for the quarter, they added, will be “GGR translation into EBITDA as player mix shift towards leisure players and higher marketing expenses to re-engage players; market share shift among operators vs pre-Covid level; cost base for the operators as GGR normalizes; and GGR recovery outlook.”
