Operator News
China – Macau GGR drops by 3.4 per cent in 2019 as December falls flat
By Phil - 2 January 2020
December came in as the second weakest month for Macau’s casino concessionaires who generated a combined revenue of $2.84bn, a year-on-year fall from $3.29bn, meaning only September generated less revenue in 2019.
Over the course of the whole year, GGR for 2019 dropped by 3.4 per cent to $36.45bn with extra security for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the SAR to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover of Macau to China from Portugal being blamed for a drop in visitation in December.
Gaming analysts had predicted the December fall.
JP Morgan’s DS Kim, Derek Choi and Jeremy An said: “December is set to be the weakest month of the year. By segment, we estimate VIP volumes dropped sharply by low-to-mid 30%, and mass GGR fell low-to-mid-single digits year-on-year. The high-end segments (including premium mass) saw a greater deterioration amid the stepped up security measures and visa controls across almost all major properties. We now expect December GGR to drop 14 per cent to 16 per cent year-on-year to about MOP$22.3 billion to MOP$22.8 billion, which would be the weakest print of 2019 on both growth and absolute terms.”
Bernstein’s Vitaly Umansky, Eunice Lee and Kelsey Zhu, believe early January could continue the trend with VIP players postponing visits to Macau until Chinese New Year.
“Chinese New Year begins earlier in 2020 than last year – in late January, which may further shift demand out of December and early January,” they said.
