Macau GGR down 9.6 percent in May

Tuesday 31st of May 2016

Macau gross gaming revenue (GGR) was down 9.6 percent to MOP 18.4 billion (US$2.3 billion) in May, below analysts’ expectations, according to the latest data from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

While the month started strong at the back of the Labor Day holiday, the last nine days were relatively weak, said Bernstein Research. Analysts had expected an 8 percent decline.

Implied ADR for the last nine days (May 23-31) was MOP 488 million, about 19 percent lower than the prior week’s ADR of MOP 600 million, said the brokerage.

Accumulated gross gaming revenue for the five months of 2016 is at MOP 91.9 billion, 11.9 percent lower than the same period in 2015.

A note from Union Gaming said that while May showed a sequential improvement of nearly 3 percent, a tough calendar comp prevented it performing better. May 2016 had two less weekend days than 2015.

However, according to the brokerage, overall the market remains stable, with a better mix of mass business relative to VIP.

For June, GGR should be in line with the daily rate of MOP 580 million Union Gaming added. “This would result in total GGR of MOP 17.5 billion, and would represent the first year-on-year increase in GGR after 24 months of declines.”

“Looking further ahead, we would expect July and August to see mid-single-digit declines in GGR before returning to growth in September.”

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