Bloomberg – Macau casino revenue climbed 40 percent to a record in February, beating estimates, after a jump in mainland Chinese visitors to the world’s largest gambling hub during the Chinese New Year.
Casino revenue in the Chinese city rose to 38 billion patacas ($4.8 billion), exceeding the 36 billion patacas median of seven analyst estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The previous record was 36.5 billion patacas in October last year.
Casino operators such as Sands China Ltd. (1928) and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. (27) have been adding shopping malls, entertainment shows and hotel rooms to draw mainland tourists to the former Portuguese enclave that has a population of about 600,000. More than 770,000 mainland Chinese visitors traveled to the city during the new year holidays from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, an increase of 23 percent from a year earlier, according to the Macau Government Tourist Office.
“Clearly, it’s evidence that there’s still pent-up demand to play from mainland customers,” said Philip Tulk, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Standard Chartered Plc. “Macau’s becoming a more accessible and realistic spot for visitation.”
Casino revenue rose 24 percent to 66.7 billion patacas during January and February, according to the gaming regulator. Standard Chartered’s Tulk said growth in the first two months exceeded his estimate for an 18 percent increase.
