Macau gambling revenue downturn continues in March with 16.3 pct drop

A near two-year tumble in Issues in poker gambling income in China’s Macau, the world’s biggest casino hub, continued in March with a 16.3 percent fall as visits by big-spending high-rollers became even more infrequent.

WO-AL908_MACAU_G_20121203184612

The special administrative area on China’s southern coast is dependent on gambling revenue. But income began to fall after the Beijing government began a campaign versus obvious spending by public authorities, while economic development slowed on the mainland – the home of the majority of consumers. This leads to sudden loss and one has to take care also to online emergency.

Income has since struck five-year lows.

In March, best gambling games income fell from a year previously for the 22nd successive month to 18 billion patacas ($2.3 billion), government information revealed on Friday. That remained in line with the 13 percent to 16 percent decrease approximated by 6 experts, according to information from Thomson Reuters.

Analysts said volatility stays high in the VIP sector due to the government campaign along with tighter regulations in Macau, the only Chinese territory where casino gambling is legal.

“We reiterate our view that video gaming earnings in Macau is likely to decline 0-10 percent in 2016, given policy headwinds and the structural shift to mass market customers from high rollers,” stated Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Sophie Lin.

The gambling industry in the previous Portuguese nest prior to 2015 was greatly dependent on high-roller VIP gamblers (website reports), who represented over two-thirds of total income. That part has actually been up to just over half.