J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff anticipates strong performance from Macau’s gaming industry, projecting $407 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR) and $63 million in cash flow for the first quarter of 2023. Those figures far exceeded his previous estimates of $321 million in GGR and $40 million of cash flow.
“We estimate that each month in the quarter improved meaningfully sequentially,” Greff wrote, “and non-gaming revenues also saw similar strength.”
Moving toward the second quarter, Greff sees $452 million in GGR and $72 million of cash flow as mass-market gaming reclaims 70 percent of pre-Covid totals.
Inside Asian Gaming cited J.P. Morgan analysts DS Kim and Mufan Shi, who said Q2 is off to a “decent start” with GGR at MOP$4 billion (US$495 million) over the first 10 days of April, for an average of MOP$400 million (US$49.5 million) per day. “We feel the actual GGR could be a tad stronger than MOP$400 million per day,” the analysts wrote, adding that the current run rate suggests mass GGR has now topped 70 percent of pre-Covid levels.
“The pace of demand recovery continues to ramp (as proven in March GGR),” they continued. “We envision a ‘Goldilocks’ rally” as investors return to the space, “following four to five years of lull amidst concerns on license risk, VIP clamp-down, Hong Kong SAR unrest and Covid-19, among others.”’
In related news, the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) will host its first tourism event in Europe since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The event, “Experience Macau Unlimited,” will take place in Lisbon, Portugal this week.
