Gambling regulator data on Macau gaming stocks released Thursday showed that three dozen casinos raked in 33.5 billion patacas ($4.2 billion) in December. That brought revenue for 2013 to 360.8 billion patacas ($45 billion), up 18.6 percent from the year before.
Macau’s results smashed even the most optimistic expectations, according to an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. One analyst told the Review-Journal that 2014 is expected to be an even bigger year for casino operators in Macau. Analyst Grant Govertsen of Union Gaming Research estimated that Macau’s take would be more than seven times the amount earned on the Las Vegas Strip.
“It’s going to be another strong year in 2014, while the growth rate is likely to be in mid-teens,” Grant Govertsen, a Macau, China-based analyst at Union Gaming Group, said by phone today. “In absolute terms, it’s going to be magnificent growth because of the improved rail connection and infrastructure, as well as the addition of the Chimelong theme park on the neighboring Hengqin island.”
Macau gaming stocks are a reflection of the city’s casino revenue, and the envy of other markets around Asia which have been looking at ways to duplicate the southern Chinese city’s success, LA Times report says. Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL) continue to build out resorts with added gaming tables, hotel rooms and entertainment centers. A Wells Fargo analyst said the outlook for Macau in the coming year remains bullish.
The former Portuguese colony, administered by Beijing as a “special autonomous region” since 1999, is just a speck on China’s south coast, an 8 sq kilometre peninsula joined by bridges to two hilly islands in the South China Sea. The Macau gaming stocks story was originally published on FreeDistrict.com
