Macau casino revenue falls 80% year-on-year in March

Macau gambling revenue fell sharply in March, though the re-opening of the Chinese autonomous region’s casinos during the month led to a significant improvement on February’s figures. Revenue for the month was down 79.7% year-on-year at MOP5.26bn (£531.4m/€602.6m/$658.7m), though this marked a 69.4% improvement on February’s revenue of MOP3.10bn. This followed a shut-down of Macau’s casinos on 5 February, that remained in place for 15 days. By late March, 37 of the 39 venues had reopened, with more than 80% of gaming tables taking bets, though with strict rules on social distancing and all staff and patrons required to wear masks.  However, despite the resumption of activities, visitor numbers remained low with travel limited. A number of regional airlines, as well as international carriers such as Vietnam Airlines, Philippines Airlines and South Korea’s Jeju Air all cancelled flights to and from the island. Year-to-date revenue for the first three months of the year came to MOP30.49bn, down 60.0% year-on-year. In 2019, Macau casinos brought in MOP292.46bn, 3.4% less than in 2018.