New | Place your bets: Singapore, Malaysia casinos more attractive than Macau, analysts say
Casino operators in the southeast Asian gambling hubs of Singapore and Malaysia to benefit from limited competition
As Macau casinos endure another disappointing month, investors may prefer the odds in Singapore and Malaysia where the gambling industry is showing it can weather headwinds.
Macau’s gross gaming revenue fell 32.3 per cent year on year in November, the eighteenth straight month of declines. Revenue has slumped by 35.3 per cent this year so far.
The result defied some predictions that business would pick up, as Studio City opened its doors and operators shifted their focus from the troubled VIP segment to the mass market, hoping that new player acquisition could outstrip attrition.
The mid-2016 opening of the Taipa Ferry Terminal provides some cause for optimism, particularly for the Cotai-based operators, but delays on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge are causing analysts to cool their already mild expectations for next year.
Daiwa analysts predict a further 5 per cent decline in gross gaming revenue in 2016 and say the consensus view of a 1 per cent recovery is undermined by the lack of visible policy support for the sector.
In his policy address last month, Macau Chief Executive Chui Sai On forecast a 14 per cent year-on-year drop in gross gaming revenue in 2016. That would take the sector to its lowest ebb since 2010.
