Macau’s casino industry reported its second straight monthly gaming revenue increase during March as the lifting of certain travel restrictions from Mainland China helped boost visitation.
Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said Thursday casino collected $1.04 billion from gamblers during a March, a 58% increase from a year ago when the coronavirus pandemic caused government leaders to cut off travel to China’s only legal casino destination.
The year-over-year increase was Macau’s second monthly jump after 17 straight months of declines, mostly related to the pandemic.
“This was the highest absolute gaming revenue levels since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said J.P. Morgan gaming analyst Joe Greff.
Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts International are U.S. companies with casino operations in Macau, which has been considered the world’s largest gaming market in terms of gaming revenue.
Macau collected $7.56 billion in gaming revenue during 2020, a decline of 79.3% from 2019 when casinos produced $36.6 billion in gaming revenues. It was the lowest single-year total since 2006.
The pandemic has ravaged Macau’s casino industry. During 2020, Macau experienced six straight months of 90% gaming declines that ended in October.
Even with the positive February and March, the region’s gaming revenue is down 22.5% for the first three months of 2021.
Greff suggested low hold from high-end customers may have softened the final monthly total. When compared to pre-pandemic results from March 2019, Macau’s gaming revenue was down 69%.
“We also think the second half of the month was better than the first half of the month, so the full month gaming results likely understates the degree of recovery,” Greff said.
He said improved consumer travel sentiment and pent-up demand from Macau customers are driving the recovery.
Analysts expect Macau’s gaming market to continue to show signs of improvement in April and May. In the past, April had experienced a slow down ahead of May’s Golden Week holiday.
That could change this year. Greff said it was possible that the trend will differ from the market’s history.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
