It wasn’t quite October’s record $4.57b haul, but Macau’s casinos notched MOP 30.18b ($3.78b) in gambling revenue during the month of November. The figure represents a 21.3% improvement over the same month last year and beat analysts’ median forecast of 20% growth. November’s tally also represented the fourth highest revenue score this year. Macau’ year-to-date gambling revenue currently stands at MOP 327.29 ($41b), up 18.6% over last year at this time, and already well over the total MOP 304b ($37.1b) Macau casinos recorded in all of 2012.
Credit for the November to remember is being given to Macau’s hosting of two marquee sporting events: the Manny Pacquiao v. Brandon Rios fight at Sands China’s Venetian Macao resort and the annual Grand Prix motor race that spanned two weekends of revved up engines and revved up casino margins. Analysts are bullish on Macau’s ability to sustain its torrid growth, what with ongoing improvements of rail infrastructure on the Chinese mainland and the expected 2016 opening of a bridge connecting Macau to Hong Kong and Zhuhai.
But revenue isn’t the only thing rising in Macau. The world’s top gambling hub recently issued its annual Gaming Sector Survey for 2012, which showed operating expenses rose 24% last year, while workers’ pay rose 17%. Since Macau began tracking employee wages in 2004, average monthly earnings for casino dealers have risen 43%. Given the added volume of customers they’ve been required to handle, no doubt these dealers have earned every penny.
The casinos operating in Macau are also shelling out more for their electronic gaming equipment as they continue to seek ways of expanding gambling options while adhering to Macau’s gaming table cap. Macau casinos spent MOP 738m ($92.4m) on gaming machines last year, an 82% gain over 2011’s spend. In July, Macau authorities revealed that the ‘live multi-game’ segment of the market had seen a 92% year-on-year revenue gain. In short, about the only thing not going up in Macau is the blood pressure of casino bosses.
