Second quarter figures from the DICJ in Macau show a slight fall in gross gaming revenue, with only greyhound racing and instant lottery figures showing improvement from the first quarter. However, a local broadcast station revealed yesterday that casinos in August recorded the highest monthly gaming revenue ever. The 10.6 billion patacas (US$1.34 billion), up 17% on the previous month, has beaten the previous record of 10.4 billion patacas in January 2008.

Over the second quarter both visitor spending in Macau and gaming revenue fell. Year-on-year the totals were down 20.6% and 12.2% respectively. There are now 33 casinos, the latest opening at the Hotel Lan Kwai Fung Macau by a subsidiary of Dreamgate Corporation, RGB (Macau) Limited. Under the concessionary programme the casino had a soft opening on 2 August with 168 slot machines.

VIP Baccarat revenue was down in the second quarter compared to the first but the other Baccarat tables, including Mini Baccarat, saw a rise in gross revenue, as did 3-Card Poker and Fortune 3 Card Poker but all the other games of fortune made less. Slot machine numbers were up by over 1,500 but revenue remained flat. There were an extra 392 gaming tables operating in the second quarter.

The August results are prompting analysts to predict a recovery of the Macau gaming market after the negative growth of recent months. Some are suggesting that China may relax its visa restrictions that are presently slowing the flow of visitors from the mainland. Another SJM casino hotel is due to open within a few months although big casino projects from Venetian Macau and Galaxy Casino are on hold. The government is expecting a 10% drop in gaming revenue over 2009. (E-09.02.09)

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