Gov’t confirms Macau gaming receipts climbed 13.7% last year

Total receipts of the gaming sector increased by 13.7% year-on-year to 304.71 billion patacas last year, according to data released Friday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), with gross gaming revenue (MOP302.86 billion) accounting for the vast majority.

Meanwhile, receipts from the food and beverage component totaled MOP541 million last year, dropping 4.6% and signaling a higher reliance on gaming within the industry, contrary to efforts to diversify the economy. According to DSEC, interest receipts leapt by 258.3% year-on-year to MOP526 million, on account of an upsurge in deposits and loans granted by enterprises.

Last year, total expenditure in the gaming sector amounted to MOP127.8 billion, up by 11.2% year-on-year. Expenditure on purchase of goods, commission paid and customer rebate rose by 13.3% to MOP68.97 billion (54% of total), while operating expenses increased 14% year-on-year to MOP31.84 billion (24.9%), mainly incurred on complimentary goods and services provided to customers (MOP14.62 billion), management services and contractual services (MOP6.08 billion) and market research and publicity (MOP5.68 billion), representing growth of 13.2%, 17.3% and 18.4% respectively.

Compensation of employees went up by 4.9% to MOP22.37 billion in 2018, while non-operating expenses (including depreciation and interest paid) totaled MOP4.62 billion, a decrease of 2.9% compared with a year earlier.

Gross value added, which measures the sectoral contribution to the economy, grew by 13.6% year-on-year to MOP203.38 billion, the highest value since 2014.

Driven by the completion of large-scale tourism and gaming facilities, as well as the extensive equipment enhancement projects of enterprises, gross fixed capital formation of the sector in 2018 rebounded by 617.2% to MOP6.8 billion. DB