Macau Casinos Have Their Worst Month In Two Years

Macau casinos won 22 billion patacas ($2.73 billion) in September, which dwarfs winnings on the Las Vegas Strip, but it marked the slowest gaming revenue growth for the Chinese gambling hub in more than two years.

Last month also almost ended a streak of 25 straight months of gaming revenue growth.

Gaming win grew just 2.8 percent last month, short of 3-10 percent growth that analysts were eyeing, per a Reuters report. According to the Financial Times, casinos in Macau were forced to close for the first time ever thanks to Typhoon Mangkhut in mid-September. The casino-resorts were shuttered for about a day and a half.

According to Bloomberg, September’s results were thanks to more than just the storm. Analysts reportedly have lowered their gaming win estimates for 2018 and 2019 thanks to a weakening yuan, China’s economic slowdown and escalating trade tensions with the Trump Administration. The benchmark gauge of Macau casino stocks is down 36 percent since May.

Despite the recent woes, the International Monetary Fund is high on Macau as a hub of wealth. The special administrative region of China is expected to soon become the world’s richest jurisdiction. According to the IMF, Macau is expected to have per capita GDP equivalent to $143,000 USD in 2020. The amount would be more than what Quatar, which currently holds the top spot at around $130,000 per capita GDP, is expected to reach in a couple of years.

Macau, the only place in China with legal gambling, had gaming win of $33 billion last year, close to three times what was won in the entire state of Nevada. Macau’s gaming market hit a high of $45 billion in 2013. Prior to Macau’s downturn, it was predicted in a Wall Street Journal report that in 2017 the gambling market would hit $77 billion.

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