Your Daily Asia Gaming eBrief: Macau's bandaid solutions

Thursday 19th of May 2022

Good Morning. Macau’s legislators are continuing to study amendments to the city’s gaming laws, with several new provisions emerging this week. One will throw a lifeline to the city’s satellite casinos, which had been the worst-affected under the original version of the bill, and the other holds out the possibility of tax cuts for those operators that succeed in bringing in more non-Chinese tourists. Gaming analyst Ben Lee, managing partner of IGamiX Management & Consulting, tells us neither are likely to do much to really help the industry, which is facing its worst crisis since the market was liberalized two decades ago.

What you need to know

Genting Group Chairman Lim Kok Thay has launched a new cruise line from Singapore, which will make its debut on June 15.
India is proposing to hike tax for online gambling firms to 28 percent of the face value of a bet, bringing the nascent industry in line with casinos and horse racing.
The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has put forward a proposal to allow casinos in five-star hotels, at which locals may be permitted to gamble, as part of a raft of measures to improve nightlife.

On the radar

DFNN revenue, EBITDA surge in 1Q22 on interactive business uptick.
Aristocrat posts 41% profit surge in six-months to Mar 31.

AGB Intelligence

DEEP DIVE

Macau gaming law tweaks seen as little more than a bandaid

Macau legislators proposed two key amendments to the city’s gaming law bill this week, but both are seen as short-term patches that do little to help solve some of the larger issues facing the industry. One of the changes was a lifeline to Macau’s satellite casinos, which are owned by third-party investors, but which operate under the license of one of the concession holders, mostly SJM Holdings. The other is the possibility of lower gambling taxes for those operators who succeed in bringing in tourists from outside of Greater China.