Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) claimed the biggest slice of the Macau casino revenue pie in October, relegating SJM Holdings to third place.
According to Macau broadcaster Teledifusäo de Macau (TDM), GEG took a 24.7% share of Macau’s total casino gaming revenue last month, up 350 basis points from September. The increase reflects GEG’s recent third quarter numbers, which showed revenue down 29% year-on-year but up 5% from Q2 2015.
GEG’s surge spoiled an otherwise impressive bump by Las Vegas Sands’ subsidiary Sands China, which improved 180 basis points to 23.1%. Sands China is considered Macau’s mass market leader and thus would have expected to be the prime beneficiary of the Golden Week holiday, but apparently GEG was offering holiday visitors a little extra somethin’ somethin’.
Where there are winners, there have to be losers, and September’s market leader SJM Holdings had a rough month, falling 110 basis points to 20.6%. On Tuesday, SJM revealed that its Q3 market share had fallen 1.2 points to 21.3% and analysts believe SJM’s older, down-market casinos will continue to shed market share to their flashier rivals, at least until SJM’s first Cotai property, the Lisboa Palace, opens on Cotai in late 2017.
The bottom half of the pile was led by Melco Crown Entertainment, which fell 100 basis points to 13.5%, although the company will likely see a gain in November thanks to interest in the newly opened Studio City resort. Wynn Macau rose 90 points to 9.3%, which could help lower Steve Wynn’s blood pressure, while MGM China tumbled 250 basis points to 8.7%.
