Macau’s June gross gaming revenue is on target to grow 20% compared to the same period last year, buoyed by the annual dragon boat festival and the opening of Morpheus at City of Dreams, according to financial services firm Morgan Stanley.
In a Friday note addressing weaker than anticipated mass market numbers in May – with mass reportedly growing by only 8.3% compared with overall GGR growth of 12% – Morgan Stanley analysts Praveen Choudhary and Jeremy An said that one fewer weekend and part of the golden week which traditionally falls in May instead falling in April were behind the weaker May mass revenue but expect that trend to change in June.
“According to our channel checks, June GGR month-to-date is tracking at around 20% year-on-year,” they said. “We think visitation in June should pick up due to dragon boat holidays and a new hotel opening. Last year, mass revenue was weak in June to August (8%, 11% and 7% year-on-year respectively), which should support improved mass revenue growth in the next three months this year.”
Notably, May’s mainland China visitation numbers saw just 5.5% growth from the tier 1 cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong but an uptick of 12.5% from lower-tiered cities.
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