Macau Casinos Win $2.6B From Players in October, Best Month Since January 2020

Macau Casinos Win $2.6B From Players in October, Best Month Since January 2020

In October, Macau casinos generated more revenue than in any month since January 2020. 

On Friday, Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau released the gross gaming revenue (GGR) figures for October, indicating that the six casino operators earned MOP20.78 (US$2.59 billion) in the previous month. October saw a 6.6% rise compared to last year and a 20% boost from September. 

October enjoyed a profitable National Day, China's week-long holiday starting on October 1 annually to commemorate Mao Zedong's founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Attendance during the weeklong festival recovered, with daily border crossings averaging nearly 142K. The traffic surpassed visitation levels seen before the pandemic. 

Casinos gained from an increased number of visitors in town, resulting in October surpassing May's GGR total of $2.52 billion, which had been the highest gaming month for the resorts in 2024. October 2024 marked the best month since January 2020. 

As of October, casino revenue reached $23.74 billion, an increase of more than 28%, or $5.21 billion, compared to the same 10 months in the previous year. However, even with the gaming recovery in 2024, the total collected from January to October was still 23% lower than during the equivalent period in 2019. 

Shareholders Becoming Tired 

Investor sentiment towards the six publicly listed casino firms functioning in Macau continues to be low nearly five years after the onset of the coronavirus. 

China’s continuation of Xi Jinping’s “zero-COVID” policy until the end of 2022 delayed a post-pandemic resurgence in Macau. Beijing’s order to Macau to tackle money laundering and capital flight — both aimed at Macau’s junket sector — has additionally hindered a recovery in gaming since the end of zero-COVID in December 2022. 

Compounding the fiscal strain on the six operators is the requirement for them to invest tens of billions of dollars into their resorts in order to obtain new 10-year gaming licenses valid until 2032. Sands, Galaxy, Wynn, MGM, Melco, and SJM have consented to designate nearly $16.2 billion for nongaming initiatives throughout the duration of the concessions. 

The nongaming directive aims to reduce Macau's economic dependence on casino gambling and convert the Chinese enclave into a top destination for leisure tourists, families, and nongaming enterprises. 

Investors, nonetheless, continue to be cautious regarding the casinos’ prospects. Macau casino stocks declined by 11.4% in October, whereas the benchmark Hang Seng Index fell by under 4%. 

Market Challenges 

October was a crucial performance for casinos in Macau and the shareholders of those companies. On Friday, shares of Macau casinos experienced an increase. 

Looking forward, worries persist for the six casino behemoths. A major concern is China’s recent directive for Macau police to focus on unlicensed money exchange operations that have been prevalent in the resort areas for many years. 

These exchanges enabled mainland high rollers to transfer funds to the exchanges and retrieve their cash after entering the casino enclave. The unregulated exchanges, in contrast to banks and other more credible financial institutions, had assisted mainland high rollers in evading Beijing’s stringent restrictions on capital flight. 

Now that unlicensed money exchanges are illegal, high rollers and premium mass players will face more challenges in moving significant sums of money to Macau, the tax haven. 

Visitors entering Macau are restricted to bringing $15,000 in cash. Those with amounts exceeding that must utilize the entry port's "Red Channel" processing system. 

The Red Channel requires travelers to spend significantly more time finishing the customs procedure than the Green Channel, where there are no declarations to make. Passengers passing through the Red Channel may have their cash and/or belongings seized unless they can provide a legitimate explanation for bringing the assets, or CBNIs — Currency and Bearer Negotiable Instruments.