Macau Casinos Experience Record Drop In Gaming Revenue From Coronavirus ClosureCasinos Experienced Nearly 88% Decline In Revenue In February |
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Gambling revenue in Macau dropped drastically in February thanks to a 15-day closure of the casinos in response to the coronavirus outbreak in China.
Casinos won $386.5 million in February, according to figures released by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. The figure represents an 87.8 percent year-over-year drop, the largest in the history of the former Portuguese colony.
The gambling market was already in a downturn before February. Macau casinos closed out 2019 with three straight months of decline and an annual drop of 3.4 percent from 2018.
Coronavirus only worsened an already slumping market as January numbers were down 11.3 percent before the government forced a more than two-week shutdown of casinos to help prevent any further spreading.
The only other casino closure in Macau’s history came in 2018 when a typhoon sparked a closure for 33 hours.
Analysts from JPMorgan Chase & Co. told Bloomberg that despite the record drop, the virus ultimately won’t stop gamblers from gambling.
“We do not think COVID-19 will curb gamblers’ enthusiasm in a sustainable way, so its impact on the industry’s sustainable earnings power should be limited,” read a March 1 note.
Those same analysts are predicting a 24 percent decrease in gross gaming revenue for 2020. They are expecting a 70 percent drop in March and a 35 percent decline in the second quarter before revenue levels out as the virus becomes less of a public concern.
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