Macao’s October slump blamed on COVID restrictions

October brought Macao’s lowest one-month gross gaming gross full of the year, the region’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said Monday.

Analysts judge the government’s determination to reapply COVID-19 restrictions successful precocious September were down the 40 percent diminution successful gross from October 2020 and the 25.7 percent diminution from September to October.

The bureau reported gross gaming gross of $544.7 cardinal (U.S.) for the month. It was the archetypal year-over-year diminution successful gross since January successful what has been a rocky twelvemonth for the 41 casinos successful the peculiar administrative portion adjacent Hong Kong.

A COVID outbreak successful Macao compelled neighboring Zhuhai province, a premier root of tourists, to enforce a 14-day quarantine for each arrivals from Macao.

Macao gross is important to the Las Vegas marketplace due to the fact that 3 Las Vegas-based companies — Las Vegas Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Resorts International — person Macao properties that historically person generated precocious levels of earnings. Sands is the marketplace person with six properties.

Sands is counting connected Macao to thrust the company’s aboriginal arsenic it exits the Las Vegas marketplace successful aboriginal 2022, arsenic portion of a $6.4 cardinal woody with Apollo Global Management Inc. and Vici Properties Inc. to get the existent property and currency travel of The Venetian, Palazzo and the Venetian Expo Center.

For the archetypal 10 months of 2021, casinos person collected $9 cardinal (U.S.) successful gross gaming revenue, a 57.3 percent betterment implicit the archetypal 10 months of 2020.

But the portion has been connected a roller coaster done 2021. The latest determination to reimpose COVID sanctions came a week earlier Golden Week, a accepted vacation play successful China. With restrictions present lifted, analysts expect the portion to rebound successful November. Representatives of MGM and Wynn are expected to sermon the outlook successful their upcoming third-quarter net calls.

The Review-Journal is owned by the household of Dr. Miriam Adelson, the bulk shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Contact Richard N. Velotta astatine rvelotta@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta connected Twitter.