Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau has released its latest monthly revenue report showing that the island territory’s 37 casinos open for operations during September generated MOP 5.88 billion ($733/€631.2 million) in gross gaming revenue (GGR).
The latest figures mark a jump of 166% on September of 2020 when tourism and gaming operations were heavily restricted due to the global pandemic. However, the industry is still some way short of a full recovery as September’s revenues represent a 73% drop on 2019’s figures for the same month.
Macau casinos reported that receipts were up by 32.3% on August. However, the previous month’s revenues were the lowest posted in 2021 with casinos generating just MOP 4.44 billion ($548.5/€472.4 million) for the month. The casinos’ most successful month in terms of revenue was May when operators reported gaming receipts of MOP 10.44 billion ($1.3/€1.1 billion).
In a year-on-year comparison with 2019, gaming revenues rose by 75.6% to MOP 67.78 billion ($8.4 billion/€7.3 billion) for the first nine months of the year.
Despite a zero-Covid strategy that has kept Macau’s borders closed to foreign nationals since March 2020, the casino industry has continued to recover throughout 2021. However, recent news of a new 45-day consultation period prior to a complete overhaul of the gaming industry saw stocks in gambling operators plummet to record lows.
A license rebidding process is planned for the near future, but with no indication as to how operators will be rated, it’s unclear whether or not Beijing will give preference to locally-owned companies.
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.