Macau December Gambling Revenue Up 66% On Year At MOP18.88 Billion
January 03 2011 - 1:14AM
Dow Jones News
Macau's gambling revenue in December surged 66% from a year
earlier, capping a year in which the territory's revenue from
casino gambling soared 58%, well above forecasts made by analysts
and officials earlier in 2010.
Gambling revenue in December totaled MOP18.88 billion (US$2.36
billion), up sharply from MOP11.35 billion a year earlier,
according to data from Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination
Bureau.
Macau's full-year 2010 gambling revenue rose to MOP188.34
billion from MOP119.37 billion in 2009, when the city was hit by
the global economic downturn, a swine flu outbreak and mainland
China visa restrictions in the first half of the year.
December's figure was higher than the MOP17 billion-MOP17.5
billion that JP Morgan analyst Kenneth Fong had said analysts
expected for the month.
Fong said earlier that December's figure could match or exceed
October's record level of MOP18.87 billion. Market estimates of a
20% rise in 2011 gambling revenue appear "too conservative," he
added.
Ambrose So, chief executive of Macau's largest casino operator
by revenue, SJM Holdings Ltd. (0880.HK), forecast in March that
Macau's casino gambling revenue would rise just 13%-15% in
2010.
-By Kate O'Keeffe, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002;
kathryn.okeeffe@dowjones.com