The revenues of the casinos in Macau continue to decline

The revenues of the land-based casinos in Macao have continued to decline in the month of November – even more than was anticipated by several analysts.
The 35 establishments in the former Portuguese colony only generated $3.04 billion in revenues (EUR 2.45 billion), which is a decrease of 19.6% compared to the same period of the previous year.
These poor results can be explained by the economic slowdown in China and an anti-corruption campaign that was conducted by the Chinese government, undermining the success of VIP tables which represented the main source of income for the local operators.

A decline in the last 5 months

This is the sixth time this year that the monthly revenues of casinos in Macau are shrinking, and the fifth month in a row in 2014, which had not happened since 2008.
The former Portuguese colony recorded its largest drop in the month of October during which revenues were down 23%.
Executives and industry analysts attribute much of the poor performance to the economic slowdown in China and the recent crackdown on corruption of the Chinese government that has led many officials to cut their spending.
According to a report by Lusa, revenues from VIP baccarat tables represent nearly 80% of the total turnover of the Macau gaming rooms.
So, because the big players are betting less it influences the final result significantly.

An increase over the year

Despite a drop in revenues in six months of this year, at the overall level the revenues from gambling in land-based casinos in Macau are still up 0.3% for the whole 11 months of the year of 2014.
The situation remains encouraging nevertheless, especially as the market is expected to bounce back in 2015.
The government plans to introduce a new border policy that is expected to extend the opening hours of casinos located at key border points with China.
This should help increase the number of visits to Macau and subsequently the number of customers in the local casinos.