Macau: gross gaming revenue dropped 93% last month

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) announced today that gross gaming revenue in the Chinese enclave plummeted 93.2 year-on-year to MOP 1.76 billion (US$221 million) in May.

It was the second steepest year-on-year decline this year, after April’s 96.8 percent plunge, Macau News reports.

However, gross gaming revenue was up 134 percent month-on-month. April’s revenue amounted to a mere MOP 754 million, the lowest of any month this year.

Casinos’ revenue in the first five months dropped 73.7 per cent to MOP 33.0 billion.

At the end of March (the latest available DICJ data), Macau had 41 casinos owned by the city’s six rival operators. Four of the casinos had their operations suspended.

At the end of the first quarter, the gaming industry had 5,533 gaming tables in operation, a decline of 17.9 per cent from the end of last year. The number of slot machines in operation decreased by 57.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 7,216.

Macau’s economy, which is heavily dependent on gaming, tourism and retail businesses, has been severely affected by the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

However, Macau has been spared a community outbreak of the highly contagious disease. All 45 COVID-19 patients have been discharged. No deaths have been reported. Observers have noted that close to 100 per cent of people in Macau have been wearing facemasks since late January. The Macau government has so far bought some 76 million facemasks for local residents and non-resident workers who are entitled to buying 10 facemasks every 10 days for just MOP 8 (US$1) from designated pharmacies and other outlets.