Macau’s anticipated casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) for April is expected to reach MOP18.5 billion ($2.3 billion), averaging around MOP617 million daily, according to a memo from Citigroup released on Monday.
This projection represents approximately 78 percent of the GGR recorded in April 2019, the trading year before the onset of COVID.
Macau’s GGR amounted to MOP19.50 billion ($2.42 billion) in March, reaching a new 49-month high.
The results reflect a 5.5 percent increase from February’s MOP18.5 billion ($2.29 billion) and a 0.01 percent increase from the last post-COVID October high of MOP19.5 billion ($2.41 billion).
George Choi and Ryan Cheung, analysts at Citigroup, pointed out that based on March’s figures, the daily average for the last seven days of the month was approximately MOP658 million ($81.7 million), indicating an increase from the previous week’s average of around MOP629 million ($78.1 million).
The analysts attributed the increase in the daily run rate primarily to heightened visitation to Macau during the Easter holidays (March 29 to April 1 for Hong Kong).
According to official statistical data, the number of visitors arriving in Macau reached 405,000 for the four-day Easter break, with visitor arrivals peaking on the second day at 122,000 visitors.
From Thursday (April 4) until Saturday (April 6), China will observe a public holiday period inclusive of the Ching Ming festival, while Macau only has Thursday as a public holiday.
In a short comment on Macau’s GGR, Jennifer Song, an analyst from Morningstar, notes that the March GGR beat expectations, with March GGR representing 75.5 percent of 2019 levels, compared with 77.5 percent in January and 72.9 percent in February.
First-quarter GGR equates to 75.3 percent of 2019 levels, up slightly from 75 percent in the prior quarter.
