Macau casino revenues remain below pre-pandemic levels and analyst expectations

Once a gambling mecca for international travelers, Macau continues to have trouble recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The SAR has been very strict when it comes to pandemic protocols, including closing down casinos and instilling travel restrictions and quarantines. Despite seeing monthly growth via gaming revenues, Macau continues to struggle with reaching pre-pandemic earnings, even though analysts expected that the region would be earning much more at this point.

May’s GGR Report

May casino gaming revenues came in at MOP3.34 billion ($415m). The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau’s report shows that the month was up 25% from April, but still far below previous totals. May brought in 68% less than the same month in 2021.

May was the second-lowest month for Macau since October 2020 when the region reopened its borders to citizens of Mainland China. The worst month was the one before, in April. May was able to increase totals a bit due to the Golden Week, but it was still only 64% of 2019 numbers.

Analysts are now changing their forecasts for the upcoming year as the region continues to see lower than expected revenues. Deutsche Bank analysts feel that the year will earn $9.78 billion. This is lower than the previously estimated $9.82 billion.

Casino Operator Debt Expected to Exceed $25bn this Year

As Macau struggles to gain ground, it is expected that operators will see debt reach $25 billion or higher by the end of the year. The increase is connected to the ongoing travel restrictions in the SAR. Morgan Stanley analysts feel that the operators will continue to mount up debt as travel policies related to the coronavirus remain in place.

Reports from Morgan Stanley say that the net debt could raise if the travel restrictions are not eased soon. Officials of Macau have been super strict when it comes to COVID-19 protocols. More restrictions are instituted if the virus becomes a threat to the region from local areas nearby.

Macau has closed off travel from around the world at one point, even keeping patrons from mainland China and Hong Kong from visiting for fear of the virus spreading. Macau has done a great job in avoiding the virus, but the downside has been that travel is low and casinos have suffered from a significant drop in revenues.

It will be interesting to see if restrictions are eased and if travelers will once again visit the casinos of the gambling city. Even when restrictions were eased in the past, the long 14-day quarantine period kept travelers from visiting. We shall see if things will change and Macau will start to see a strong recovery, or if the revenues will remain low due to the restrictions.