Gaming gross revenue surpassed the expectations in November and achieved a 22.6 percent year-on-year increase.
According to information released by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau of Macau (DICJ), gaming gross revenue (GGR) surpassed analysts’ expectations and reached US$2.8 billion during November operations, which represents a 22.6 percent increase.
Expectations for the casino sector were around 18 percent year-on-year growth, but November managed to become the 16th consecutive month of gaming gross revenue in the market. The tally for the first eleven months of 2017 stands at US$29.5 billion, a 19.5 percent increase when compared to the same period in 2016. Month-to-date figures indicate that the numbers have already surpassed the ones recorded in the twelve months of 2016.
Analysts DS Kim and Sean Zhuang of JP Morgan Securities said in a note that the November results was the result of the best non holiday daily performance in three years, only topped by this year’s demand during October Golden Week and Chinese New Year.
“High hold rates in VIP along with continued volume strength creates volatility and lack of ability to more accurately forecast the monthly trend,” – said analysts Vitaly Umansky, Zhen Gong and Cathy Huang.
Grant Govertsen, analyst at Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd, added: “As we’ve noted previously, Macau continues to see a better quality gaming customer even as the headline official visitation rate suggests only modest growth. In other words, lower-quality visitors are generally being replaced by higher-quality visitors.”
