Gaming | Casino revenue up nearly 26 percent in June

Casino revenue in Macau missed analyst estimates in June amid concerns of tightening regulation in the world’s biggest gaming hub.

Gross gaming receipts in June rose 25.9 percent to 19.99 billion patacas (USD2.49 billion), according to data released by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau Saturday. That compares with the median estimate for a 30 percent increase in a Bloomberg survey of 11 analysts and follows a 24 percent jump in May.

The growth in gaming revenue is the highest since February 2014 and reflects the trough the industry was struggling to emerge from last June, when receipts were the lowest since 2010. Still, policy risks remain, as Macau’s government and Chinese authorities put in new regulations to deter capital outflows from the mainland, including facial recognition technology on automated teller machines to curb money laundering. 

Casinos also face a setback in expansion attempts in China, after a Shanghai court in June convicted 19 Crown Resorts Ltd. current and former staff for illegally promoting gambling on the mainland. The convictions coincide with a planned new wave of Asian casinos, from Japan to Australia, that are poised to make a fresh push to attract business from China.

New casinos opened by companies including Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Las Vegas Sands Corp., Adelson’s company, are wagers that revenue will keep accelerating amid increasing competition. Casino operators, prodded by a government dependent on the revenue Macau pulls in, have begun to offer more non-gambling attractions, from Broadway-style shows to a Ferris wheel, to diversify the tourism market.

Bloomberg Intelligence’s index of Macau gaming stocks rallied 26 percent this year through Friday. Wynn Macau Ltd. surged 48 percent in the period, while Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. jumped 40 percent. MDT/Bloomberg