Analysts have dissed Macau once more with one analyst revising his projections for the coming 18 months. Harry Curtis, from broker Nomura, cut his prediction of gross gaming revenue growth in 2012 from 19 percent to 15 percent, according to Macau Business. It gets worse though. The same firm thinks the enclave will barely top 10 percent growth in 2013 as their estimate decreased from 16 percent to 11 percent. Another couple of haters, Gary Pinge and Elaine Lai from Macquarie Capital Securities, feel there’s a mood of “over-optimism” on a mass market that “started to show cracks in May”. They maintain an outlook that predicts 15 percent growth in 2012 and added: “We think growth expectations in Macau are going to undergo an uncomfortable adjustment phase – driving volatility.
Macau’s economy as a whole will also see slower economic growth in the current year with the figure expected to creep to 9.8 percent. Macauhub cite a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit that predicts a slowdown in Mainland China will adversely affect the enclave. The report states that growth will rebound to 13.5 percent growth in 2013 and that in itself will be comfort to those with any lingering worries about the enclave.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) officials think abolishing the group will play into the hands of other casino regions such as Macau and Singapore. Pagcor president and chief operating officer Jorge Sarmiento told the Manila Standard that the measure would put Filipino operators at “a disadvantage” compared to their competitors in the area, namely Macau, Singapore and Malaysia. Sarmiento is worried that increasing the rate of tax will mean they lose out and added: “The existing regulatory fee rate will substantially increase to 55 percent as proposed in Senate Bill 3178 which is far higher than those offered by our competitors.”
