Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau today released information about the financial performance of the city’s casinos in June. Gross gaming revenue was down 8.5% year-on-year to MOP15.9 billion ($1.99 billion).
June has been the 25th consecutive month when a drop in Macau’s revenue has been reported. What is more, the city has had its worst month in terms of proceeds from its gambling venues since 2010.
The 8.5% drop reported by the city’s gambling regulator was completely in line with analysts’ expectations for a fall of between 5% and 12%. The June decrease followed a 9.6% one in May. With that said, revenue from Macau’s casinos dropped 13.6% on a month-to-month basis.
The special administrative region is the only Chinese territory where casino gambling is legal. Macau’s gambling venues generated gross gaming revenue of MOP107.8 billion during the six months ended June 30, reflecting a 11.4% drop on a year-over-year basis.
The city has long been highly dependent on its gambling industry as it annually contributes 80% of Macau’s tax revenue. With casinos experiencing their worst downfall, city officials have been looking to limit that reliance on the industry.
The current state of affairs has mainly been attributed to the anti-corruption campaign launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 and targeting high profile politicians and politically linked business personalities.
Due to the anti-graft campaign, high roller players from Mainland China have been avoiding Macau and its casinos for some time now. Local gambling venues have always been earning the better portion of their revenues from that exact group of gambling customers and losing them has clearly been detrimental to the industry.
In a bid to recover from the serious blow they have endured, gambling operators have started averting their attention to mass market players and international tourists by adapting their offering to the tastes of the said groups of customers.
Two new integrated casino resorts are to be launched in Macau in the months to come, with both of them targeting mass market gambling customers and non-gambling visitors. Earlier this week, Wynn Resorts announced that Wynn Palace, the operator’s first casino complex on the Cotai Strip, is to officially open doors on August 22. The $4.1-billion resort will be surrounded by an 8-acre performance lake and will feature a number of exciting options for those who visit it.
In addition, Sands China Ltd. will probably launch The Parisian Macao in September. Among other impressive features, the $2.7-billion resort will boast a half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower.
