A recent police action against a group alleged to have been running illegal money exchange operations in eight Macau jewelry shops could negatively impact the city’s mass and premium mass gaming segments due to multiple casino hosts being caught up in the incident, according to Macquarie Equity Research analysts.
In a note, Macquarie’s Chad Beynon and Sam Ghafir said the sweep – which saw 33 people detained – had included the arrest of 14 casino hosts from three different Cotai-based casinos. This, they added, “raises concerns about GGR for the coming months, particularly in the premium and grind mass segments. We believe this would lead the market to further revise down the full-year GGR.”
Such a scenario would exacerbate recent softness in the Macau market, with the government suggesting it may fall short of its 2025 GGR forecast.
Macau’s gross gaming revenues grew by just 0.6% year-on-year in 1Q25 to MOP$57.7 billion (US$7.19 billion).
As reported by IAG, the recent jewelry shop action by local authorities saw 22 Macau residents and 11 mainland residents arrested – accused of moving HK$590 million (US$74 million) through the stores in question.
