Macau: Gaming revenue hits $886M in first 11 days of August as mass market demand surges

Macau's gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first 11 days of August totaled MOP7.1 billion ($886 million), driven by strong demand in the mass gaming segment during the summer holiday period, reveals a new report from brokerage J.P. Morgan.

Analysts DS Kim, Mufan Shi, and Selina Li observed that the average daily revenue last week rose to MOP657 million ($82 billion), marking a sequential improvement and exceeding the daily averages of MOP590 million to MOP600 million ($74-75 million) seen in June and July, Macau Business reported.

The report indicates that mass gaming revenue has recovered to approximately 110% of pre-pandemic levels, while revenue from the VIP segment remains at about 20% to 25% of 2019 levels.

“We keep our forecasts unchanged for August GGR, to be around MOP19-19.5 billion (approximately $2.4 billion), which could turn out to be a tad conservative if the current weekly run-rates sustain towards the monthend,” the analysts wrote, as per the report.

The analysts also addressed Macau's recent legislative moves to criminalize unauthorized money exchanges within casinos. They observed that it has become increasingly difficult to find such services in or around casino premises, and there is little expectation that these activities will resume in the near future.

On August 9, lawmaker Chan Chak Mo, who leads a Legislative Assembly committee reviewing legislation on gambling-related crimes, announced that a new provision would be introduced to criminalize illegal money exchanges occurring on casino grounds. The legislation will classify all facilities associated with gambling, as well as those dedicated to art, cultural, recreational, business, or hotel activities, as part of the casino.

Earlier in June, China’s Ministry of Public Security initiated efforts to combat illegal money exchanges, urging closer cooperation between law enforcement agencies in Macau and the mainland to crack down on these activities. Money changers operating around Macau’s casinos have been identified as a key method for moving funds across different jurisdictions, particularly between the mainland and Macau.