Casino floors see MOP8b in revenues in May’s first half

Casino floors have seen MOP8 billion of gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the first 14 days of the month, an average daily run rate of MOP570 million, according to investment bank JP Morgan.

The ongoing robust recovery, according to the firm, shows elevated baseline demand levels, similar to what was seen during the Lunar New Year in late January this year.

“This implies that last week’s GGR – a seasonally slow week after the long holiday – was still at MOP500 million per day, a meaningful notch above the MOP400 million plus run-rates that the industry generated prior to the Labor Day holiday,” said analyst DS Kim.

Meanwhile, VIP demand is on a recovery rate of around 25% to 30%, significantly higher than the recovery recorded during the first quarter of the year.

“VIPs still don’t move the needles for profits/cash flows, but we believe this level of recovery is pretty impressive, nonetheless,” said the brokerage.

Meanwhile, casino stocks have been on a decline amid the sector gaining momentum.

Last month, the casino sector continued to gain traction in recovery, recording MOP14.7 billion in revenue in April, the highest monthly taking since January 2020.

However, Kim noted that “that better-than-expected fundamentals will ultimately drive the sentiment or stocks higher as the street numbers move up.” Staff Reporter