Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) run rate is estimated to have slowed over the past week, possibly impacted by the use of some hotel rooms by National Games athletes and staff according to investment bank Citigroup.
The National Games, launched on 9 November and running to 21 November, are being jointly hosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, with the table tennis, 3×3 basketball, 5-a-side basketball, karate and women’s volleyball events also taking place in Macau. Galaxy Macau is providing the venue for table tennis, Wynn Palace for the 3×3 basketball, Studio City for five-a-side basketball and The Venetian Macao for volleyball.
In a Monday note, Citi said that industry sources placed GGR for the first 16 days of November at MOP$11.1 billion (US$1.39 billion) or a daily run rate of MOP$671 million (US$83.7 million). This, explained analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau, suggests a 6% moderation compared with the first nine days alone.
“We suspect the minor moderation in GGR is attributable to some hotel rooms being occupied by the athletes participating in the National Games, leading to a temporary small decline in average players’ length of stay (and play),” they wrote.
It is estimated that VIP volumes have declined by between 6% and 8% versus October and mass GGR by between 8% and 10%, however VIP hold rates appear to be unchanged. As a result, Citi is maintaining its November GGR forecast at MOP$20.5 billion (US$2.56 billion) – up 11% year-on-year – and suggesting daily GGR will remain at or MOP$671 million for the remainder of the month.
