Macau gross gambling revenue will rise by 12 to 15 percent in 2013 if you believe estimates made by Barclays Bank. Macau Business report the estimates are based on projected growth of 5-10 percent in the VIP segment and mass-market growth in the low 20 percent range. The news comes after the enclave saw a 7.3 percent improvement in revenues during January 2013 compared with the previous year and shows there is considerable optimism in the financial world.
Junket operator Asia Entertainment & Resources Ltd. (AERL) is continuing to suffer from poor performance as they reported a drop in rolling chip turnover for yet another month. January saw a decline of 26 percent to US $1.26 billion (MOP10.1bn). The firm blamed the declines on their internal “self-directed tightening of credit to agents due to the slowing economy in the mainland”. The enclave’s analysts agree with the firm’s sentiments and David Bain from Sterne Agee stated that he expects them to become “more aggressive with credit loosening to agents in stages, matching a Macau market rebound by the second quarter of 2013.”