Macau’s gross gaming revenue is tracking around 4% slower this month than in April, according to analysts.
In a Monday note, JP Morgan’s DS Kim said that GGR for the first 13 days of May is estimated to be around MOP$10.7 billion or MOP$835 million per day, softer than the MOP$850 million per day in April and below expectation.
“The post-holiday slowdown seems to be more pronounced than expected,” Kim said, who estimates total GGR for May to come in at between 13 and 15% year-on-year growth.
Those numbers are echoed by analysts at Bernstein who estimate an average daily rate (ADR) of MOP$823 million from 1 to 13 May and just MOP$728 million over the past week.
“ADR during the last week declined significantly post the Labor Day holidays, but is still 32% above the similar week last year,” Bernstein said. “Month-to-date VIP hold rate was slightly above normal range. Mass was flat month-on-month compared with April ADR number, while VIP volume was up low single digit.
“The crackdown of the Gongbei border gate exchange stores may hurt the lower end mass segment in the next a few weeks, as many retail outlets in Macau including the UnionPay outlets have traditionally allied with these illegal forex counters to provide physical collection counters in Macau.”