Merrill Lynch cuts 2015 revenue forecast to 32pct drop year-on-year

Noting that the performance of Macau gaming stocks was disappointing in the first half of 2015, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch has reduced its forecast for Macau’s GGR from -26% to -32%. Revenue contraction was a major concern, but Merrill Lynch believes that the second half of the year should stabilize; easing transit visas, economic upturn in the summer months, and new supply are factors that should drive mass market growth. However, the predicted GGR growth for 2016 was revised down from 10.5 percent to 5.3 percent, and the EBITDA forecast was cut by 10 percent due to the impending smoking ban. Merrill Lynch also mentioned that there could be further downsides if smoking lounges are rendered illegal.

T1 signal hoisted as Linfa edges closer

The Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau hoisted typhoon signal no.1 last night as the tropical cyclone Linfa continues to move northwest, edging closer to Macau. The observatory said that the chance of issuing a signal of higher order in the next few days was slim. The typhoon is expected to make landfall in eastern Guangdong province, hundreds of miles away from the MSAR. In other words, it is likely to have only minimal effect on the city. The bureau expects that typhoons with greater local impact will only appear after July.

New Irish Macau Chamber of Commerce mentorship program

The Irish Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong, together with its partner organization, the Irish Macau Chamber of Commerce, is collaborating with Macau’s Consulate General on a mentorship program. “The aim of the program is to facilitate and support engagement between the more experienced contacts drawn from the Irish community and ‘Friends of Ireland’ in Hong Kong and Macau,” the chamber said in a statement, cited by the Irish Times. The program will run for six months from September to February, using the Irish Executive Mentorship Program platform supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The mentors are typically executives and entrepreneurs in the middle to late stages of their career who are willing to share their experience and guide their younger counterparts towards accomplishing key professional goals. They are expected to volunteer one to two hours per month, for six months.