[ET Net News Agency, 21 February 2018] HSBC Global Research cited its Macau sources
noting that the first 19 days of February yielded MOP13.5bn in gross gaming revenue (GGR).
This implies an average daily run rate (ADR) of MOP637m/day in the past 8 days, compared
with MOP697m/day the week before and MOP614m/day during the same period last year.
The research house noted that, as anticipated, volume slowed down into the Chinese New
Year (CNY) until 18 February, Day 3 of the holiday period. From CNY eve to day 3, overall
visitation is up 10% y-o-y and that from China is up 19% y-o-y, as reflected in long
queues at the Border Gate, busy gaming floors and strong hotel bookings. The traffic
should bode well for the mass and non-gaming segment.
However, some operators observed fewer big players and lower average spend hence volume.
This is consistent with what it was seen in last October's golden week as seasonality
trend continues to weaken. The VIPs are avoiding Macau in the holiday period in order to
stay away from the crowds. Luck also did not play in favour, trending lower to 3.1% based
on HSBC's estimates. By operator, Galaxy, Wynn and Sands gained share, based on the
research house's observations.
HSBC maintained its full-month GGR forecast at MOP24.1-24.8bn, which implies
MOP1,180-1,260m/day for the rest of the month. Full month growth is contingent upon how
long the tail is (i.e. how strong volume stays on) post the third day of CNY. (KL)