Macau Casino revenue may rise 40% to us$ 2 billion this month

Growth for the six casino operators in the former Portuguese colony is slowing because sales in the second half of last year were higher than in the first six months as the economy rebounded. Las Vegas Sands Corp., which derived 73 % of 2009 revenue from Macau, in June forecast growth of more than 30 % for the second half, slower than the 67 percent expansion in the first six months.

Casinos in Macau, the only place in China where they’re legal, may almost match August’s performance this month, Pinge said. “Macau’s gaming market is showing little sign of sequential slowdown,” he said. “Even August showed strong month-on-month growth in VIP gaming volumes.”

Wynn Macau Ltd. and other casino operators have increased revenue from so-called VIP gamblers after boosting the number of baccarat tables with minimum bets of 10,000 patacas or higher. High-stakes gambling accounted for at least 72 % of the city’s casino revenue in the second quarter, compared with 67 %for all of last year.

Wynn Macau rose 3.6 percent at the 4 p.m. close of trading in Hong Kong, the most since Aug. 19. Melco International Development, which has a venture with Australian billionaire James Packer’s Crown Ltd., added 4.1 percent.

Pinge has an “outperform” rating on Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. and is “neutral” on Wynn Macau and billionaire Stanley Ho’s SJM Holdings Ltd.

Galaxy, part-owned by Permira Advisers LLP, fell 1.4 %, SJM gained 2.3 %, and Las Vegas Sands unit Sands China advanced 0.7 %.

MGM Resorts International, the biggest casino operator on the Las Vegas Strip, has an unlisted Macau venture with Stanley Ho’s daughter Pansy Ho, MGM Grand Paradise SA. Pansy Ho is the older sister of Lawrence Ho, biggest shareholder and chief executive of Melco International.

SJM had the biggest market share of the casino operators in Macau with 29 percent followed by Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., Melco’s joint venture, with 19 percent, CLSA Ltd. analyst Aaron Fischer said in a note to clients last month. Sands China had 18 percent, Galaxy had 14 percent and MGM Grand Paradise’s market share was 7 percent, Fischer estimated.