Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment Group defended their top-tier positions in gaming market share during the first half of 2019, with the two retaining control of a combined 45.5% of the sector.
According to estimates released by Deutsche Bank and cited by Jornal Tribuna de Macau, Sands China continues to lead the pack with 24.1% of the total market, followed by Galaxy at 21.4%.
Melco Resorts & Entertainment, Wynn Macau and Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) controlled 15.8%, 15.3% and 14.3% of the market respectively, while MGM China trailed at 9.1%.
Sands China was also the strongest in the faster-growing mass market where it controlled 29.5% during the first half of 2019, compared to Galaxy’s 18.7%. SJM (15.3%), Melco (14.6%), Wynn (12.2%) and MGM (9.7%) followed behind in that order.
Conversely, Galaxy led the pack in the VIP segment, accounting for just over a quarter of the market (25.2%), followed by Wynn (19.9%), Melco (17.4%), Sands China (16.2%), SJM (12.8%) and MGM (8.5%).
Despite holding at the back of the pack, MGM China achieved significant growth in the first half of the year, picking up business in the mass market through the opening of its Cotai resort in 2018. Bucking the Macau trend, the casino operator has even seen growth in the VIP segment, where its market share grew 1.8 percentage points from a year earlier.
Gross gaming revenue in the first half of the year topped 149.5 billion patacas, down marginally by 0.5% year-on-year. In the first six months of 2019, the mass market overtook VIP as the bigger share, rising to about 52% of total gross gaming revenue.
Macau gaming appears to be resisting major headwinds from a slowing Chinese economy and the ongoing China-U.S. trade war. With Macau’s economy reliant on mainland tourism and its currency indirectly pegged to the U.S. dollar, the special administrative region is particularly vulnerable to shocks to the world’s two largest economies.
However, government- led strategies to reduce the sector’s reliance on the VIP market, as well as develop non-gaming offerings for tourists are beginning to pay off.
While gaming revenue tumbled 0.5% in the first half of the year, the growth in tourist arrivals surpassed 20% year-on-year. That suggests that either the tourists are staying away from the casinos, or that they are betting and the VIP segment is just falling that much faster.
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