The casinos at Macau had their ups and downs and some of the previous months in 2018 were quite disappointing for this area as their revenue started to go down. However, they managed to pull out a miracle and with great leadership and even better management, they began their recovery in June when the gross gaming revenue from more than 30 casinos in Macau were around $2.78 billion. However, this was not the pinnacle of their earnings, and they managed to pull out a great July as the year-on-year rise of 10.3% was recorded. Translated into the language of money, the casinos in Macau managed to earn $3.13 billion in July which is a great success for them.
GGRAsia published a report that has some really interesting official figures that were taken from Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. Looking at July’s tally and comparing only this month to the July of the previous years – there is a clear 12.6% improvement which a splendid result. However, year to year rise, although being great it did not meet the expectations of the experts from several world-class brokerage firms who predicted it to be 11%.
Grant Govertsen is one of the officials from the Union Gaming Securities Asia Limited which has headquarters in Hong Kong. He stated in a note that Macau had not hit the forecast presented by him due to something that he called a trio of “headwinds.” One of the main factors why the players were distracted in July was the 2018 FIFA World Cup that happened in Russia. In fact, Govertsen states that it is that one day that makes all the difference – the day when the finals of the World Cup was played. This was just enough for the players to come in lesser number to Macau casinos.
It’s Been a Great Run
Now, according to GGRAsia, the first seven months of 2018 were a lot better than the first seven months of 2017. In fact, the casinos managed to earn a total of $21.71 billion in 2018 which is an incredible increase of 17.5% when compared to a year-on-year chart. Sanford C Bernstein Limited is a brokerage firm which predicted for August, and they were more than enthusiastic with the statement that the overall August rise will be 15%-17% in comparison to the previous year. This is optimistic due to the fact that this August has one less Saturday when compared to August 2017 and Saturdays are often the main days in casinos.
Govertsen also made the August 2018 prediction, stating that it will be somewhere around 14%. He had a more reasonable argument for this claim, saying that Typhoon Hato which hit Macau last year was one of the dominant factors why the numbers were low in August 2017. This is bound to change since there were no Typhoons this year and people are eager to go and have some fun.
