Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) jumped 57% year-on-year in August according to figures released by the territory’s gaming regulator the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ). GGR for the month hit MOP24.77 billion (US$3.1 billion).
Some commentators have taken this as a sign that fears of a slow down in Macau’s casino industry linked to global economic uncertainty have been overplayed. It’s worth pointing out however that previously in Macau there has been a lag between international economic turbulence and that turbulence showing up in the gaming revenue figures. When the previous global financial crisis first ramped up in early September 2008, it wasn’t until the following (fourth) quarter that the effect showed up in the GGR figures. And Macau recovered quickly. By 1Q 2009 it was again posting quarter-on-quarter gains, although there was still a 13% year-on-year decline in revenue in 1Q 2009.
On Thursday, data showed that manufacturing activity in crisis-hit Eurozone countries fell to a two-year low.