Local casinos raked in MOP 398 million in gross gaming revenue in July, accounting for only five per cent of what was recorded in July 2021, according to data from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).

The July 2022 tally was severely impacted by the stringent pandemic restrictions in place during the whole month and the 12-day closure of gambling venues as the city was enduring a partial lockdown following the worst local outbreak so far since the onset of the pandemic.

As quoted by Macao Daily, Citibank has indicated that the gambling revenue in August is expected to reach MOP 1.5 billion, a 376 per cent increase month-on-month but only 34 per cent of the same month of last year.

According to Citibank’s sources, the SAR’s gaming revenue in the first 14 days of August was MOP 800 million, the investment bank said in the report.

Citibank also noted that mainland tourists will remain cautious in deciding whether to make Macau their travel destination, even though Macau has already resumed a quarantine-free customs entry policy with Zhuhai since the beginning of August.

Therefore, the bank has remained its conservative forecast, with the estimation of Macau’s August gaming revenue being MOP 1.5 billion.

According to another note by Stanford C. Bernstein published earlier this week, Macau casinos raked in a daily average of MOP79 million in gross gaming revenue last week (August 8-14), signalling a 120 per cent hike from the previous week.

The two-week figure is helped by increased visitation following the reopening of the border with the mainland on August 3, however, Stanford C. Bernstein noted that “the recovery is still hampered by various travel restrictions in China”. A major hurdle regards the 24-hour COVID test certificate and the one-trip per day limitation imposed on August 9.

Considering the measures in place and the regional COVID-19 outbreaks, the brokerage also holds a prudent approach to the near-term business environment and the pace of gross gaming revenue recovery.

By Therese Tu