Photographer: Billy HC Kwok / Bloomberg
Photographer: Billy HC Kwok / Bloomberg
Macau casinos ended their worst year with little sign of progress in recovery, although there are still hopes for a rebound in the world’s largest gambling center later in 2021.
- Total games revenue fell 66% to 7.82 billion patacas ($ 979 million) in December from a year earlier, according to data from the Bureau of Gaming Investigation and Coordination. That was broadly in line with the analyst’s average estimate for a decline of 68%, followed by a 71% decrease fall in November.
- Full-year revenue fell 79% to 60.4 billion patas.
Key views
- Macau is struggling to lure players back more than three months after China slow travel and visa loops, as gamblers still find it difficult to get into the city due to a difficult and time consuming application process.
- Access to Macau is indeed becoming more difficult, as the government tightened border restrictions due to a new strain of coronavirus that came out in the UK Under the newer policy, residents of Greater China who have been in any country in the past three weeks will be barred from entering the city.
- Macau has not seen coronavirus cases in the past six months – one of the longest Covid-free streaks in the world – but it is still at risk as diseases re-emerge in Hong Kong and parts of mainland China when colder weather comes.
- Analysts expect a rebound this year. Monthly game revenues should show solid gains due to easy comparisons with 2020 figures. Sanford C. Bernstein sees game revenues return to around 80% of 2019 levels , although analyst Vitaly Umansky does not expect a big discount of bottles in the short term.
Market performance
- The Bloomberg Intelligence index of Macau casino operators rose 3.9% in December, reducing its decline for the year to 11%. The Hang Seng Index set a 3.4% benchmark for the month.