Golden Week Gaming Revenues Up In Macau
Macau Casinos Continue to Outperform During Golden Week: LVS, MGM, MPEL, WYNN
The Golden Week holiday in China is one of the biggest weeks of the year for Macau historically and this year proved no different based on preliminary data from Macau officials. Gaming revenues for the first 6 days of October were up 18- 22% year over year. Analysts were looking for a 16-21% hike in revenues. The average daily table win for the first six days of October in Macau was HKD $1.68 billion, a 30% increase from the same period last year. According to Nomura Securities analysts Harry Curtis, Louise Cheung, and Brian Dobson…
Mass headcount and play levels remain strong, which we think should continue. We estimate mass table revenues could be up 31-34% YoY for the month, which is just above recent trend of 30-32%.
Adding to a very strong September, numbers for Macau continue their trend of coming in stronger than expected. In no surprise to those with an understanding of the Macau market, tourist arrivals during the Golden Week were up 4.7% year over year, despite a ban on ‘zero-fare’ travel packages from mainland China. October is supposed to be a record month in Macau for Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts (MGM), Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN), and the first weeks result do nothing to indicate otherwise. I remain bullish on the entire sector and MPEL remains our favorite play in Macau out of the group. Numerous other analysts have reiterated or raised their ratings on the group, all echoing bullish sentiment. Citi also named MPEL as their top pick last week.
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