Macau Suffers GGR Losses Post-Golden Week; Q3 Revenue is $1.6 billion

The daily gross revenue of Macau suffers major week-on-week declines in the period between October 11 and October 17. According to the Bernstein brokerage, the week-on-week decline is 37% to just $9.8 million (MOP79 million).

The Daily Average Was 88% Lower Than October 2019

Analysts Kelsey Zhu, Vitaly Umansky and Louis Li noted in their weekly Macau GGR report that, compared to October 2019, the average daily rate was 88% lower as the Macau-Zhuhai border was closed since September 26. The border was just reopened on Monday.

However, the aforementioned analysts have stated that even though the numbers have been low for the past week, the prior week, which comprised a part of the October Golden Week holiday (October 1 to October 7), had a massive spike due to the fact that many high-end casino players were able to visit Macau and the average spend was well-above the premium mass player average spend.

Even though a lot of high-rollers were able to visit Macau, the month-to-date GGR is estimated at $224 million (MOP$1.8 billion), with a 46% decline on the average daily rate in September. The analysts also predict that the October GGR is likely to be 80% lower than the one of October 2019. They predict that some improvements will be recorded towards the end of the month and in early November, since the Macau-Zhuhai border restrictions have been dropped.

Macau Q3 Revenue Was $1.60 Billion

On Monday, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau released data concerning the Q3 GGR of Macau. According to this data, the Q3 revenue was $1.6 billion (MOP12.81 billion), which accounts for 68.2% of the aggregate casino GGR of the city in the period. The mass-market revenue, slot machine revenue included, is 24.1% lower from Q2, as reported by the casino regulator of Macau. Macau has been trying to recover from the pandemic for quite a while now.

VIP baccarat, which contributed to around half of Macau’s 2019 GGR, accounted for 38.1% of the casino revenue in the three months to September 30. The game’s revenue was around $743 million (MOP5.96 billion), which is 29.9% lower than the Q2 VIP baccarat revenue.

Mass-market baccarat proved to be extremely influential in Q3, as it was responsible for $1.3 billion (MOP10.56 billion), or 56.3% of all GGR. The slot machine revenue was $134.6 million (MOP1.08 billion), which is 5.7% of the period’s aggregate GGR.

Even though the month of July was good for Macau casinos, the overall GGR from July to September was $2.34 billion (MOP18.76 billion), which is a 26.1% quarter-to-quarter decline.

Several industry analysts have pointed out that the high-roller sector in Macau has been under a lot of commercial pressure lately, with factors related to the pandemic, such as the Macau-Zhuhai border, being the main reason. Some of these analysts even suggested that the VIP GGR has been virtually negligible for the profit of the sector in the current market environment.

Back in September, Macau’s government stated that it wants to increase the mass-market share of the casino industry. It also pledged to strictly oversee the process of allocation of new live dealer tables. The Five-Year Development Plan, which is currently under public consultation, states these goals in its draft version.

At the end of the third quarter, the number of live gaming tables in Macau was 6,302, which is an increase of 109 tables from Q2. As of September 30, the number of slot machines was 11,449. In Q2, the number of slot machines was 9,871.