NewMacau’s top casino operator warns against calling a recovery in gaming enclave

It’s still too early to say Macau’s US$29 billion casino industry is rebounding, even after August’s bump in revenue halted a two-year decline, said the billionaire chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., the biggest operator there.

Lui Che-Woo wants to see more-sustained growth before deciding the worst is over, and he believes the best strategy for achieving that is to target mainstream gamblers rather than VIPs, he said in an interview. That would dovetail with government efforts to turn the world’s biggest gambling hub into more of a destination for middle-class tourists.

“While Macau’s gambling industry has hit the bottom, it’s still too early to call it a recovery,” Lui, 87, said. “Give me two more years to see. It takes time to gradually attract more mass-market customers.”

Galaxy overtook Sheldon Adelson’s Sands China Ltd. as the market leader with 23 per cent share in the first half of 2016, helped by new family-friendly resorts such as Galaxy Macau’s second phase and Broadway Macau. Lui’s net worth has increased by 10 per cent so far this year to US$7.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Lui is opting to remain cautious even as Sands’s Adelson and MGM Resorts International Chief Executive Officer James Murren both said that a Macau gambling recovery is underway.