Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first seven days of January is estimated to be approximately MOP4.4 billion ($548 million), with an average of MOP629 million ($78.4 million) per day, as noted by investment bank Citigroup.
According to the data collected, the average run-rate of GGR has been only 8 percent lower than that of the final 14 days of December 2023 at MOP683 million ($79.5 million) per day. Given that Macau rarely tracked at more than MOP600 million ($74.8 million) GGR per day in 2H23, ‘in our view, this is a pretty solid start to the new year.’
Analysts from Citigroup consider that based on the first week’s data, ‘the strong demand momentum continues into 2024 thus far’. The investment memo also notes that VIP volumes were largely flat month-to-month, while mass volumes were 5 percent higher month-to-month. VIP hold rate is above normal level.
Citigroup has previously projected that January GGR may reach MOP17.5 billion ($2.2 billion), achieving around 70 percent of the level recorded in January 2019. According to the updated data, the forecast remained unchanged, implying GGR to average MOP546 million ($68 million) per day for the rest of the month, driven by the normal seasonality.
The following public holiday is 2024’s Chinese New Year (CNY) Golden Week, which falls between February 10th and 17th.
According to official data from the SAR’s tourism bureau (MGTO), Macau received some 28.23 million visitors in 2023, with a daily average of 77,000 – indicating a recovery of some 70 percent when compared to pre-pandemic 2019.
Macau’s GGR amounted to MOP183.1 billion ($22.68 billion) in 2023, indicating a 333.8 percent surge compared to 2022. The year of 2023 marked a resurgence for Macau, stepping out of the shroud of the pandemic and the related regulations which effectively shuttered the city for three years.
Morgan Stanley has previously predicted that Macau’s GGR for 2024 might increase 28 percent yearly, reaching 80 percent of the levels observed in 2019.
