{"id":97610,"date":"2019-02-01T09:50:28","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T17:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=97610"},"modified":"2019-02-01T09:50:28","modified_gmt":"2019-02-01T17:50:28","slug":"macau-gaming-market-contracts-for-first-time-since-july-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-gaming-market-contracts-for-first-time-since-july-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Macau: World\u2019s Biggest Gaming Market Contracts for First Time Since July 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Macau gross gaming revenue (GGR) fell by 5 percent year on year in January, the first decrease in monthly revenues for well over two years.<\/p>\n

\"Macau\"
Macau\u2019s new smoking ban, coupled with the Chinese New Year falling at the beginning of February, was always going to make January tough going for the enclave\u2019s casinos. (Image: Chris McGrath\/Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The drop had been widely anticipated by analysts, many of whom feared it would be more pronounced. Macau\u2019s casino revenue is expected to decline across the board this year, thanks to a slowing Chinese economy and the ongoing trade war between Beijing and Washington.<\/p>\n

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Margaret Huang said Friday that such economic uncertainties were interrupting the flow of high-stakes gamblers from the Chinese mainland, on which Macau depends. VIP gamblers were \u201cholding on to their money more tightly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Silver Linings<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But the fact that Macau still managed to beat analysts\u2019 projections is a positive. New regulations that prohibit smoking in casinos in all but a few designated lounges came into force on January 1 and were expected to dent casino revenues.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, many gamblers are saving themselves for the Chinese New Year holidays, which fall earlier this year — from February 4 to 10.<\/p>\n

\n

January 2018<\/a> was always going to be difficult to beat. A stellar month, revenues were up 36.4 percent on the same period a year previously. Analyst DS Kim at JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) said that considering all these factors, January 2019 should be \u201cviewed positively by the market.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Grant Govertsen, a Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd. Analyst, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are encouraged by the January results and view the market as being more robust than it gets credit for, especially given the timing of Chinese New Year this year,\u201d Govertsen wrote in a note.<\/p>\n

Now More Resilient<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The results suggest that recreational gamblers are still coming to Macau and still spending money, despite economic headwinds on the mainland.<\/p>\n

The gambling hub largely reinvented itself as a mass market destination during a two-year period of economic downturn from 2014 to 2016, largely driven by China\u2019s anti-corruption crackdown, which scared off high rollers. The evidence suggests Macau\u2019s diversification has made it more resilient.<\/p>\n

Macau\u2019s GGR grew 14 percent in 2018<\/a>, marking the second straight year of growth since its bounce back in the summer of 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macau gross gaming revenue (GGR) fell by 5 percent year on year in January, the first decrease in monthly revenues for well over two years. The drop had been widely anticipated by analysts, many of whom feared it would be more pronounced. Macau\u2019s casino revenue is expected to decline across the board this year, thanks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":97617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMacau Gaming Market Contracts for First Time Since July 2016<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Macau gross gaming revenue fell by 5 percent in January, its first dip in over two years, but a downturn was widely expected, and it should have been worse, analysts said.\" \/>\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=\"Macau Gaming Market Contracts for First Time Since July 2016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Macau gross gaming revenue fell by 5 percent in January, its first dip in over two years, but a downturn was widely expected, and it should have been worse, analysts said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-gaming-market-contracts-for-first-time-since-july-2016\/\" \/>\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=\"2019-02-01T17:50:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/macau-casinos.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1505\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-gaming-market-contracts-for-first-time-since-july-2016\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-gaming-market-contracts-for-first-time-since-july-2016\/\",\"name\":\"Macau Gaming Market Contracts for First Time Since July 2016\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-gaming-market-contracts-for-first-time-since-july-2016\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-gaming-market-contracts-for-first-time-since-july-2016\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/macau-casinos.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-01T17:50:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-01T17:50:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Macau gross gaming revenue fell by 5 percent in January, its first dip in over two years, but a downturn was widely expected, and it should have been worse, analysts said.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-gaming-market-contracts-for-first-time-since-july-2016\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-gaming-market-contracts-for-first-time-since-july-2016\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-gaming-market-contracts-for-first-time-since-july-2016\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/macau-casinos.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/macau-casinos.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1505,\"caption\":\"Macau\u2019s new smoking ban, coupled with the Chinese New Year falling at the beginning of February were always going to make January tough going for the enclave\u2019s casinos. 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