Macau Gambling Revenue Surged 40% in August

Macau's casinos have staged a dramatic rebound since the second half of last year after shaking off the global economic downturn, a swine flu outbreak and visa restrictions on mainland Chinese gamblers. Percentage rises for the rest of the year will likely ease from the first half and the 70% year-to-year growth posted in July due to the higher base effect.

Macau's casinos have rebounded from being hammered last year by the global economic downturn, a swine flu outbreak and visa restrictions on mainland Chinese gamblers. Percentage rises for the rest of the year will likely ease from the first half and the 70% year-to-year growth posted in July due to the higher base effect.

Aggressive casino revenue growth in Macau fuelled a sharp improvement in the earnings of Macau's casino operators, whose reporting season ended this week.

CLSA analysts Huei Suen Ng and Aaron Fischer have said they expect gambling revenue in the Chinese territory to rise 34% in the second half from a year earlier, slowing from the first half's 67% rise but remaining strong in absolute terms.

August revenue totaled 15.8 billion patacas ($1.97 billion), nearly flat from July's 16.3 billion patacas, but considerably higher than 11.3 billion patacas in the same month last year, according to data from Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

August's revenue figure is the third highest so far this year after May's record 17.1 billion patacas and July's total.

We think September could be softer given that visitors tend to delay their travel plans ahead of the Golden Week holidays in October, Deutsche Bank analyst Karen Tang wrote in a report Thursday.

Among Macau's six casino license-holders, businessman Stanley Ho's SJM Holdings Ltd. continued to lead the market with a share of 29%, followed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. unit Sands China Ltd. with 20%, a person at a Macau casino familiar with the matter said. SJM lost three percentage points from the previous month while Sands gained one.

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., co-chaired by James Packer and Lawrence Ho, Stanley Ho's son, jumped to third place as it improved market share to 17% from 15% in July. Wynn Resorts Ltd. unit Wynn Macau Ltd. fell to fourth place with a 14% market share compared with the 15% it garnered in July, according to the person.

Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. had a 13% share in August, up from 12% last month, and MGM Macau, a joint venture between Pansy Ho, Stanley Ho's daughter, and MGM Resorts International, had 8%, up from 7%, the person added.

Macau stocks finished mixed in Hong Kong after the news about August revenue. Sands China rose 3.2% and Melco International, essentially a holding company for U.S.-listed Melco Crown, finished up 2%. SJM fell 0.8%, Galaxy lost 0.3% and Wynn Macau ended 0.2% lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 1.2%.

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