Macau casinos see biggest drop in five years in monthly revenues; shares up
Macau gaming stocks jump despite 11.7pc fall in takings, which continues trend driven by falling visitor numbers and slowing national economy
Revenue at Macau's casinos in September fell 11.7 per cent from a year ago, the most in five years.
The downward trend is likely to continue this month as the government rolls out stricter enforcement of a smoking ban on casino floors and Occupy Central protests in Hong Kong reduce the number of mainland visitors to China's gaming capital.
Despite four months of declines in casino revenue due to factors such as a slowing mainland economy, President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign and a liquidity crunch among junkets, Macau gaming stocks rose sharply yesterday, with Sands China closing up 6.98 per cent, Galaxy rising 6.06 per cent, SJM Holdings 5.12 per cent, MGM China 4.93 per cent, Wynn Macau 4.44 per cent and Melco Crown up 3.63 per cent.
"Obviously, there's been nothing but bad news for quite some time," China Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen said. "The stocks have basically been cut in half [so far this year]. Last week, rumours were floating around that the ban was going to be stricter and that was already priced into the stocks. [As for] the revenues that came out this afternoon, the government came out last week saying it would be 12 to 13 per cent and it was down 11.7 per cent."
Gross gaming revenue in September was 25.56 billion patacas, compared with 28.96 billion patacas in the same month last year, Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said yesterday.