A significant development in the Macau gaming industry occurred in May 2023. This is the first time since January 2020 that monthly revenues have reached and exceeded MOP20.00 billion, thus indicating a tremendous recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. Furthermore, it has surpassed the pre-pandemic levels and even the early post-pandemic increase of MOP19.50bn initially seen in October 2023 and then repeated in March of this year.
This impressive growth underlines a robust and progressive upward trend of Macau’s gaming industry recovery. The Gross Recorded Revenue for May was MOP2034 billion, up 8.8% from MOP18.55 billion in April and a phenomenal leap of 29.7% over MOP15.57 billion in May last year.
The total revenue generated for Macau in the five months of the year 2024 was up to MOP96.06 billion, up 47.9% from the corresponding period of the year before. This suggests an upward movement in the market of Macau as the region gradually recovers from the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Get help from this recovery from the COVID-19 restrictions that were eased in January 2023 allowed the gambling hub to ease back to its pre-pandemic level that saw the monthly revenues go beyond MOP20.00 billion regularly.
The market has increased in recent years, which is good for all significant land-based casinos in the region. Many operators experienced increased sales after Macau’s market was restored. One of the major players active in Macau only is SJM Holdings, and during the first quarter of 2024, it reported a significant improvement in earnings. Their revenues rose to HK$6.90 billion, an increase of 73.0% compared with the previous year. Some of these properties include the Grand Lisboa Palace and Grand Lisboa, which recorded a growth of HK$1.4 billion and HK$2 billion, respectively.
Other large casino operators in Macau also reported similar improvements in their financial results. Las Vegas Sands posted a 39.6% revenue increase to $2.96 billion during the first quarter; Macau was responsible for $1.81 billion and had a YoY growth of 41.6%. Melco Resorts & Entertainment also recorded a 55.2% increase in its overall revenue, boosted to $1.11 billion, primarily from its City of Dreams located in Macau, with a recorded revenue of $55.09 million.
Furthermore, MGM Resorts International enjoyed a good quarter in China as it posted its record total group revenue of $4.83 billion, up by 13.2%. Out of this staggering amount, their branch, MGM China, accounted for $106 billion. Wynn Resorts also posted a significant increase in its revenues by 30.8% to $1.86 billion, with most of it coming from operations in Macau, which contributed 53.6% of overall Q1 revenues of $998.6 million.
This continuous growth and development in Macau is beneficial not only to the local economy but also to the international gambling sector. As all significant players in this sector continue to post impressive earnings, much attention is shifted to Macau as it establishes itself as one of the largest gambling hubs globally. This proves its stability and further growth possibility; therefore, it remains one of the favourite places for gambling and investments.
