Gross gaming revenue (GGR) for January in Macau’s casino industry was little over MOP18.25 billion (US$2.27 billion), a 5.6% year-over-year decrease. The numbers, which were made public by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau on Saturday, indicated a marginal increase of 0.3% over the MOP18.20 billion recorded in December.
JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd described January’s performance as “soft.” Analysts DS Kim, Mufan Shi, and Selina Li noted that a slowdown before the Lunar New Year holiday significantly impacted large casino properties. “According to our checks, there was a very noticeable pre-holiday slowdown this year, with a lull in traffic from the last weekend, particularly affecting large properties,” they wrote.
Although the results were not as strong as anticipated, the first half of January had encouraging numbers. On January 29, the Lunar New Year holiday began, which is a crucial time for Macau’s gaming and tourist sectors. The official holiday season on the Chinese mainland, which runs from January 28 to February 4, is when gambling revenue is at its highest.
Mass Market Recovers While VIP Segment Lags
JP Morgan highlighted that January’s GGR reflected a recovery of over 110% in the mass market segment compared to pre-pandemic levels, while VIP gaming remained around 20% of previous figures. These recovery rates were similar to those in Q4 2024.
Visitor numbers surged again from January 31, the fourth day of the holiday. The brokerage firm also observed strong booking trends, raising questions about whether the January decline was temporary or part of a broader trend.
According to JP Morgan, GGR might fluctuate between MOP800 million and MOP850 million every day from February 1 to February 9. A high holiday run rate of more over MOP1 billion per day was predicted by the firm. It anticipates that February’s GGR would top MOP19 billion, growing 3% to 5% annually.
The overall casino GGR in Macau year 2024 was MOP226.78 billion, a 23.9% increase over 2023. In 2025, industry-wide GGR growth is projected by JP Morgan to be over 5%, with higher gains anticipated in the second half of the year.
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