Macau’s gross gaming revenue is estimated to have averaged MOP$679 million (US$84.0 million) per day in the week from 13 to 19 July, up 9% over the prior week according to Citigroup.
Citing industry sources, the investment bank attributed the improvement to the fact that “distractions from the [World Cup] continued to fade, with fewer (three) soccer matches than in the week of 6 July (eight).”
This, said analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau, lifted monthly GGR through 19 July to around MOP$12.05 billion (US$1.49 billion).
The week-on-week increase, they added, was primarily from a slight increase in VIP volume and a higher VIP hold rate than the prior week.
“Now that the [World Cup] is in the rearview, we expect Macau to have a swift GGR recovery, propelled by its star-studded event calendar,” Citi wrote.
“We are keeping our July 26 GGR forecast of MOP$21.0 billion – down 5% year-on-year – unchanged, implying GGR to average MOP$746 million (US$92.3 million) per day for the rest of July 26.”
The longest World Cup in history, comprising a total of 104 matches, concluded on Monday morning Asia time as Spain defeated defending champions Argentina to lift their second World Cup trophy.
