Macau Casino Revenues Jump in Jan After COVID Rules Eased

Macau saw an 82.5% year-on-year growth in gambling income to 11.6 billion patacas ($1.4 billion) in January, after the world's biggest gambling hub had nearly half a million tourist arrivals over the week-long Lunar New Year vacation.

The crowds were the greatest in more than three years, but January's income was still less than half of the Lunar New Year period in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to data released by Macau's government on Wednesday.

Still investors cheered, pushing shares in Macau casinos up between 3% and 5%, while executives and experts said it was a promising indicator of a good recovery to come.

A special administrative area of China, Macau has seen a revival of tourists from the mainland since Jan. 8 after the territory abolished all COVID-19 testing requirements for inbound passengers from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Tens of thousands of tourists flowed daily into Macau's casinos and attractive cobbled alleyways throughout the Lunar New Year vacation from Jan. 21, a sharp contrast to the paucity of visitors entering the former Portuguese territory since 2020.

Macau is the only place in the country where gambling in casinos is legal. It had rigorously followed China's zero-COVID strategy since 2019 and re-opened with the mainland.

January's revenues were the first for Sands China (OTC:SCHYY), Wynn Macau (OTC:WYNMF), MGM China (OTC:MCHVY), Galaxy Entertainment, MGM China and SJM Holdings (OTC:SJMHF) under new 10-year contracts.

The casinos had started under 20-year contracts in 2002, raking in billions of dollars and turning a quiet fishing community into a glamorous boomtown.

The new contracts, with tighter government oversight and control, were established when COVID-19 limitations destroyed Macau's gambling profits and sent net debt rising. The industry experienced its lowest revenue performance on record in 2022.

The city's once rich VIP economy has also collapsed following multiple arrests in Macau's junket industry. A Macau court on Jan. 18 sentenced Alvin Chau, one of the city's most well-known people, to 18 years in prison.

Casinos have pledged to investing a total of $15 billion in the future decade, 90% of which must be spent on building non-gaming plans that include an indoor waterpark, health and wellness centres, art exhibitions and a big garden attraction by Sands, akin to Singapore's Gardens by the Bay.

Whether or not they can fulfill a government goal to grow non-gaming revenues to more than 30% of the total from an average of 5% pre-COVID, the stakes are enormous.

Around fifty percent of Las Vegas's revenue comes from non-gaming sources.

Rob Goldstein, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) and majority owner of Sands China, stated that the company was experiencing a very robust recovery in Macau since COVID limitations were lifted.

Last week, he told analysts on a conference call, "We're just ecstatic to be open, making money, and seeing demand like this."

However, labor shortages are becoming evident as resorts and retail establishments scramble to increase employees to meet demand, and a Sands executive stated that as a result, some of its hotels are not running at full capacity.