DICJ boss predicts GGR revival in 2017

Wednesday 7th of December 2016

Paulo Martins Chan, director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau says he is hopeful for revenue growth in Macau’s gaming sector in 2017, local media reports.

“Gaming revenue is expected to see stable development next year, and hopefully go upward,” Chan said in an interview with Bloomberg. “Macau has started to see healthy and sustainable growth.”

According to Chan, stricter regulations for junket operators, money laundering and phone betting this year will be beneficial for the gaming business in Macau.

“We will work more on economic diversification,” Chan said. “If we only rely on a small group of VIP patrons, we are at risk when the economy fluctuates.”

Chan said he was also trying to reduce risks from inside the industry. The gaming regulator will soon publish plans to raise capital requirements for junket promoters and launch a credit database to identify bad-debt gamblers.

The last four months saw the gaming hub record consecutive year-on-year revenue growth, with November reporting the strongest growth in nearly three years.

Macau gross gaming revenue came in at MOP 18.8 billion (US$2.4 billion) for the month of November, showing a rise of 14.4 percent year-on-year.

Accumulated gross gaming revenue for the first 11 months of 2016 was MOP 203.4 billion. The amount is already clear of Macau’s projected gaming revenue of MOP 200 billion (US$25 billion) for the year 2016.

For the full year 2016, Macau’s gross gaming revenues are estimated to come in at a decrease of 3.1 per cent year-on-year to approximately MOP 223.7 billion, according to Deutsche Bank.

2017 will see a 10.3 percent year-on-year increase, and 2018 will see a 5.9 percent year-on-year increase.

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