{"id":58719,"date":"2017-09-17T10:01:32","date_gmt":"2017-09-17T17:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=58719"},"modified":"2017-09-17T02:12:31","modified_gmt":"2017-09-17T09:12:31","slug":"uncertainty-returns-to-macau-as-beijing-escalates-anti-corruption-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uncertainty-returns-to-macau-as-beijing-escalates-anti-corruption-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic Uncertainty Returns to Macau as Beijing Escalates Anti-Corruption Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Macau\u2019s economic rebound continues, and even appears to be typhoon-proof<\/a>. But another ill-wind blew past the Cotai strip last week as analysts warned that Beijing had \u201cescalated significantly\u201d its anti-corruption campaign, injecting uncertainty into the casino resort industry in Macau.<\/p>\n

\"Casinos
Analysts suggest Macau\u2019s non-gaming revenues will double over the next decade, but also fear the region\u2019s growth and economic recovery could be tempered by renewed government efforts to control the flow of money in and out of the region. (Image: Wikipedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Analysts for investment research firm Bernstein noted on Thursday that a large increase in \u201canti-graft activity\u201d over the last few months \u201ccould have implications on premium spend,\u201d threatening the valuable VIP sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point heightened anti-corruption activity feels more \u2018fly in the ointment\u2019 than an outright red flag,\u201d said the Bernstein alert. \u201cBut the change of direction in our data feels noteworthy, especially in the context of increasingly bullish investor views, heightened earnings expectations, and valuation multiples which have expanded.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

High Rollers and Big Spenders<\/h2>\n

Macau has enjoyed more than a year of month-on-month revenue growth since it began its recovery from a two-year economic slump that was largely caused by the Chinese government\u2019s crackdown on what it contended was graft and ostentation.<\/p>\n

The crackdown put a huge crimp on Macau\u2019s VIP market, with junkets directing Asia\u2019s biggest spenders choosing to gamble in other countries. But the high-rollers have returned, as VIP gaming in Macau is up 25 percent this year.<\/p>\n

As Morgan Stanley analysts see it, the bigger threat is on the \u201cpremium mass\u201d segment of the Chinese gambling market. This sector consists of the top end of the mass market, and has shown Macau casinos its value in recent years.<\/p>\n

\n

Premium mass customers may not as gamble with quite as much money as VIPs, but they still bet big and make the casinos better margins, as they don\u2019t have to give a cut to the junket industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Morgan Stanley said in an report that Chinese mainlanders\u2019 increased reliance on their UnionPay bank cards, China\u2019s only domestic bank card, puts the premium mass of casino customers at risk. UnionPay users are subject to withdrawal restrictions that can be imposed at any time by the Chinese government.<\/p>\n

In 2015, 60 percent of Macau customers used their UnionPay cards to access gambling funds. That number has grown to 70 percent in 2017. The Chinese government has previously imposed restrictions on ATM use in Macau, limiting how much cash people can access while visiting casinos and using facial recognition technology<\/a> to keep tabs.<\/p>\n

Macau\u2019s Coming of Age<\/h2>\n

Bernstein believes that the Macau\u2019s annual visitor volume will grow from 20 million to 34 million by 2025, with the average non-gaming spend doubling in that period.<\/p>\n

\n

During the 2014 to 2016 economic slump, Macau tried to reinvent itself somewhat, catering for the first time to the mass market.<\/p>\n

This coincided with developing new integrated resorts with a focus on non-gaming amenities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Morgan Stanley analysts believe the mass market has driven Macau\u2019s recovery, and will be key to making growth sustainable for years to come.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macau\u2019s economic rebound continues, and even appears to be typhoon-proof. But another ill-wind blew past the Cotai strip last week as analysts warned that Beijing had \u201cescalated significantly\u201d its anti-corruption campaign, injecting uncertainty into the casino resort industry in Macau. Analysts for investment research firm Bernstein noted on Thursday that a large increase in \u201canti-graft […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":58720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,60,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUncertainty Returns to Macau as Beijing Escalates 'Anti-Corruption' Drive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"China has re-upped it's anti-corruption measures in Macau, which could negatively impact both the VIP and mass market casino consumers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Uncertainty Returns to Macau as Beijing Escalates 'Anti-Corruption' Drive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"China has re-upped it's anti-corruption measures in Macau, which could negatively impact both the VIP and mass market casino consumers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uncertainty-returns-to-macau-as-beijing-escalates-anti-corruption-drive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-17T17:01:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-09-17T09:12:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/macau-skyline.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1910\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uncertainty-returns-to-macau-as-beijing-escalates-anti-corruption-drive\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uncertainty-returns-to-macau-as-beijing-escalates-anti-corruption-drive\/\",\"name\":\"Uncertainty Returns to Macau as Beijing Escalates 'Anti-Corruption' Drive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uncertainty-returns-to-macau-as-beijing-escalates-anti-corruption-drive\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uncertainty-returns-to-macau-as-beijing-escalates-anti-corruption-drive\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/macau-skyline.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-17T17:01:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-17T09:12:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"China has re-upped it's anti-corruption measures in Macau, which could negatively impact both the VIP and mass market casino consumers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uncertainty-returns-to-macau-as-beijing-escalates-anti-corruption-drive\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uncertainty-returns-to-macau-as-beijing-escalates-anti-corruption-drive\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uncertainty-returns-to-macau-as-beijing-escalates-anti-corruption-drive\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/macau-skyline.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/macau-skyline.jpg\",\"width\":1910,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"Analysts suggest Macau\u2019s non-gaming revenues will double over the next decade, but also fear the region\u2019s growth and economic recovery could be tempered by renewed government efforts to control the flow of money in and out of the region. 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