\nHoward Stutz, Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/p>\n
\tMacau\u2019s casino market experienced a 23.2 percent decline in gaming revenue during October, the largest single-month drop since American-owned casinos began operating in the Chinese market in 2004.<\/p>\n
\tTotal casino revenue was $3.5 billion in October \u2014 Macau\u2019s fifth straight monthly decline, the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\tAnalysts now expect Macau\u2019s downward trend to continue into 2015 as high rollers skirt the market because of a government crackdown on corruption.<\/p>\n
\tThrough October, Macau gaming revenue is still up 2.3 percent over 2013. But analysts predict double-digit declines in November and December.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe currently see no reason that trends should materially improve in the first quarter of 2015, relative to current levels,\u201d said Macau-based Union Gaming Group principal Grant Govertsen.<\/p>\n
\tMacau produced a record $45.2 billion in gaming revenue in 2013<\/p>\n
\tAt $3.5 billion, one month of revenue in Macau is greater than half of the Strip\u2019s $6.5 billion in gaming revenue collected in all of 2013.<\/p>\n
\tAlso, the gaming revenue produced by the 35 casinos in Macau in October 2013 was $4.6 billion, the market\u2019s second-highest single month total ever. In February, Macau\u2019s casino market produced a record $4.8 billion, fueled by Chinese New Year.<\/p>\n
\tThe government\u2019s crackdown on corruption is hurting the junkets that bring high-end customers in the casinos. International law enforcement has long suspected the junkets are influenced by organized crime triads.<\/p>\n
\tChina President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Macau in December, which may also affect high-end visitation.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cTrends (are) expected to remain rocky through year-end,\u201d said Wells Fargo gaming analyst Cameron McKnight. \u201cChinese macroeconomic data remains soft.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe crackdown has been just one factor slowing Macau\u2019s gaming growth. Other issues include political unrest and pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, economic concerns, and visa restrictions that curtailed visitation by mainland Chinese citizens.<\/p>\n
\tAnalysts said the effect of a smoking ban implemented on mass market gaming floors last month has been negligible.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cMost operators cite only a small negative impact to date from the change,\u201d said Sterne Agee gaming analyst David Bain.<\/p>\n
\tMGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts all operate casinos in Macau and are adding to those holdings.<\/p>\n
\tLas Vegas Sands is building the $2.7 billion Parisian development on Macau\u2019s Cotai Strip. Wynn Resorts is building the $4 billion Wynn Palace on Cotai, while MGM Resorts is building the $2.9 billion MGM Cotai. All three projects are expected to open in 2016.<\/p>\n
\tGovertsen worried an office being set up by the Chinese government to focus on the country\u2019s anti-corruption efforts could slow any high-end gambling recovery.<\/p>\n
\tIn a research note, Govertsen said a government office represents the institutionalization of the anti-corruption drive.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis, in turn, suggests to us that the anti-corruption drive is far from over and is likely to continue to impair Macau\u2019s VIP market for a significant period of time,\u201d Govertsen said.<\/p>\n
\tHe said the anti-corruption effort could help other countries with casinos, including Cambodia, the Philippines and South Korea.<\/p>\n
\tTuesday\u2019s gaming results in Macau may have affected the stock prices of Nevada-based gaming companies.<\/p>\n
\tMGM Resorts closed at $22.33, down 69 cents or 3 percent. Las Vegas Sands was off $2.70 or 4.33 percent to close at $59.67. Both companies are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n
\tWynn Resorts closed at $185.26, down $4.25 or 2.24 percent, on the Nasdaq.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Howard Stutz, Las Vegas Review-Journal Macau\u2019s casino market experienced a 23.2 percent decline in gaming revenue during October, the largest single-month drop since American-owned casinos began operating in the Chinese market in 2004. Total casino revenue was $3.5 billion in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}