It marked the second straight year of GGR growth, following an increase of 19.1% in full-year 2017. Before that, the Macau market had experienced three consecutive years of annual decline. In 2016, GGR fell 3.3%; in 2015, it slipped 34.3%; and in 2014, GGR declined by 2.6% year-on-year.
Macau’s GGR for December 2018 rose by 16.6% year-on-year, to approximately US$3.28 billion. It was the third best monthly tally in 2018, just trailing the figures for October and August, at U$2.95 billion and US$2.87 billion, respectively.
Several brokerages covering the Macau casino sector had issued notes anticipating December GGR growth of between 10 percent and 15 percent year-on-year. Investment analysts had said volume in the VIP market last month was trending slightly higher than in November, and that mass-market GGR was also a touch greater.
Brokerage Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd said in a recent note it expected a “slow start” to 2019, “with the whole of first quarter at +3 percent before picking up into the mid-single digits post the first quarter”.
Source: GMB / GGR Asia
