Macau GGR decline slows in June: govt

Jul 01, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Macau gross gaming revenue (GGR) for June fell year-on-year by a smaller percentage than even a senior government official had expected. The decline was 36.2 percent year-on-year in June to about MOP17.36 billion (US$2.17 billion) from approximately MOP27.22 billion in June 2014. It was the slowest monthly rate of year-on-year decline since January, when the market contracted by 17.4 percent.

It was nonetheless the 13th month in succession for such a year-on-year decline, confirmed data released on Wednesday from the local regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

The last time Macau’s monthly revenue tally was below MOP18 billion was in November 2010, when the city’s casinos collected MOP17.45 billion in gross revenue.

The latest result means accumulated GGR for the first six months of 2015 stands 37.0 percent lower than in the same period in 2014, at about MOP121.65 billion, compared to an aggregate of approximately MOP193.09 billion in the year-prior period.

Several investment analysts had this week forecast a year-on-year decline for June GGR in the range of 38 percent to 40 percent.

Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong Vai Tac, had on Monday flagged – in comments to the local media – a GGR decline for June as high as 41 percent year-on-year.

The official breakdown for VIP versus mass-market table gambling in the second quarter of this year will be released later this month.

May 2014 was the last time Macau showed year-on-year monthly expansion in GGR, when it rose 9.3 percent to just over MOP32.35 billion.

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