This comes as better news for gaming market in Macau as Galaxy Entertainment chairman Lui Che-woo says that Macau’s gaming market has bottomed out after two years if continuous decline. Lui said after the company’s AGM “The [revenues] from the beginning of this year until now have not continued to drop sharply and have stabilised,” He further added that “I believe this means we can say [the market] has already bottomed out.”
As per the official data Gross gaming revenue(GGR) in April showed a decline of 9.5 percent year on year to MOP 17.3 billion (US$2.2 billion). Though the results were up from the analyst estimates which predicted a decline of 13.5 percent for the month of April.
In a statement, Union Gaming stated that “Further, April 2016 actually notably outperformed what we’ve seen on a sequential basis the last three years… Put together, the stability story is clearly intact and we are expecting nice sequential growth in May and are already seeing signs of this,”
Even Chairman Lui’s eldest son Francis Lui Yiu Tung who is also Galaxy’s deputy chairman said in February that “the worst is already over.”
Francis further added that the weaker performing VIP operators in Macau have already been phased out and promoters went don from 300 in the golden days to the current numbers which are just a little over 100. But the better part is things are looking better now as things are taking better shape. Galaxy Entertainment annual results were down sharply but its earnings jumped more than expected in the final three months of the year.
Dr. Lui Che Woo, Galaxy’s chairman, also said:
As we look ahead, we are cautiously optimistic about the outlook for Macau and the market in the medium to long term. While it is too early to call a bottom to the market especially given the current volatile macro economic environment, sequential growth in Macau’s gaming revenue in the final quarter of 2015, coupled with healthy visitor numbers over the important 2016 Chinese New Year period, potentially signal market stabilization.
Additionally, the easing of transit visas, greater clarity on addressing infrastructure limitations more rapidly, and the scheduled opening of new integrated resort capacity this year, are welcome developments that should promote the development of the industry.
Overall it is a good sign that the gaming industry looks forward to better times after the clouds of recession are now fading away.
