Gaming Sector revenue stabilized in 2016 as bust ended
The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) has released the results of the Gaming Sector Survey 2016, which state last year’s total revenue of the “10 enterprises that engaged in gaming activities” as MOP229 billion, down by 1.8 percent year-on-year.
The year-on-year decrease in gaming revenue, which was the largest component of total revenue (MOP227.38 billion) narrowed notably from a 34.3 percent drop in 2015. The stabilization of gaming revenue reflects the recovery that began in the second half of 2016.
According to the official pre-revision figures accessed on the website of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), gross gaming revenue in 2016 reached MOP223 billion, down by 3.3 percent year-on-year.
The first seven months of the year registered year-on-year declines, with the lowest monthly figure registered in June (MOP15.8 billion). This recovered to MOP19.8 billion by December that same year.
Meanwhile, revenue from the food and beverage sector (MOP506 million) dropped by 7.6 percent in 2016, but revenue from currency exchange (MOP82 million) rose by 8.6 percent. Interest receipts (MOP165 million) registered a decrease of more than 40 percent.
Total expenditure of the gaming sector amounted to MOP96.93 billion in 2016, down by 4.8 percent year-on-year.
By category, expenditure on “purchase of goods, commission paid and customer rebate” (about MOP50 billion) decreased by 13.2 percent, considerably lower than the year-on-year decline of 45 percent registered in 2015.
On the other hand, operating expenditure increased by 12.7 percent year-on-year to almost MOP24 billion, of which expenditure on complimentary goods and services (MOP10.82 billion) – such as hotel accommodation and food and beverages – and marketing and publicity (MOP4.28 billion) rose by 10.2 percent and 9.3 percent year-on-year respectively.
Non-operating expenses, including depreciation and interest paid, totaled MOP3.65 billion, down by 1.3 percent year-on-year. Moreover, compensation of employees (MOP19.86 billion) dropped slightly by 0.4 percent year-on-year, due to a 0.8 percent decrease in the number of full-time employees, to 55,794.
In terms of the extent to which the gaming sector contributes to the economy, 2016 saw a shift away from a previous downward trend. Instead, its contribution edged up by 0.5 percent year-on-year in 2016, to MOP155.44 billion.
With the successive completion of several large-scale tourism and gaming facilities in 2016, the gross fixed capital formation of the gaming sector surged by 170 percent year-on-year to MOP7.43 billion. According to DSEC, the surge was due to a significant increase in the acquisition of buildings and electronic gaming equipment. DB
