‘Worst’s over’ says gaming boss | March casino revenue down 15.6 percent beats forecasts

Paulo Chan

Macau gross gaming revenue for March, due to be published today, is down 15.6 percent year-on-­year, official sources told the Times.
In March 2015, GGR sat at MOP21.48 billion, so last month’s receipts calculate to around MOP18.15 billion (USD2.3 billion) – a number that barely touches the “austerity” level announced previously by Secretary Lionel Leong.
It is, however, a result which beats worst analysts’ forecasts.
Sanford C. Bernstein forecast on March 8 that the GGR would have been between MOP16.4 billion and 17.6 billion, or between minus 18 percent and minus 24 percent y-o-y. This week, Daiwa Securities analysts remained “skeptical.”
“Our ground checks in Macau last week were sobering, with industry participants sharing an overall air of cautiousness about the sector’s near-term prospects,” wrote Jamie Soo and Adrian Chan in a note.
In an interview with Radio Macau this week, Paulo Martins Chan admitted that the casino’s long losing streak “could have continued through March.”
The recently appointed director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said the worst is now over for Macau’s ailing gaming industry. He added that gaming revenue is likely to see a 10 percent drop this year.
Chan also argued that further drops in revenue will not be as steep as they have been for almost the past two years.
“The most trying times are now past us. I think that even if there’s a drop in revenue, it will be a slight one,” Chan said to Radio Macau. PC