Macau March Gambling Revenue Up 24% On Year At MOP24.99 Billion
02 April 2012 - 10:13AM
Dow Jones News
Gambling revenue in Macau rose 24% in March from a year earlier,
government statistics showed Monday, as players from mainland China
continued to fuel growth, though not at as quick a pace as the year
before.
Gambling revenue in Macau, the only place in China where casino
gambling is legal, rose to MOP24.99 billion (US$3.12 billion) last
month, up from MOP20.09 billion a year earlier, according to data
from Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. First
quarter revenue rose 27% over the same period last year.
March's growth was in line with recent forecasts from Deutsche
Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
analyst Billy Ng and CLSA analyst Aaron Fischer. Analysts will be
keenly watching the impact on revenue from the opening of Las Vegas
Sands Corp. (LVS) unit Sands China Ltd.'s (1928.HK) massive new
casino project later this month.
Macau's revenue growth has been explosive since the end of 2009
as players have continued to place bets regardless of China's
tightening measures and local government policies aimed at slowing
growth to a more measured pace. Analysts expect the pace of growth
to slow in 2012, however, due to a high base of comparison last
year and concerns about the sustainability of the aggressive growth
in VIP play. The most bearish gambling revenue growth estimates for
the territory hover around 11% compared with last year's 42%
rise.
The Chinese territory remains the largest gambling center in the
world many times over. Last year it raked in more than five times
the gambling revenue of the Las Vegas Strip.
-By Kate O'Keeffe, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002;
kathryn.okeeffe@dowjones.com