Macau’s GGR for June Expected to Nosedive

An uptick in the COVID-19 infections in Macau has forced the entire Special Administrative Region (SAR) to shut down. At the time of writing this, 34 total cases have been reported by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, Macau’s authority tasked with enforcing the zero COVID policy of mainland China.

Casinos Remain Open, But This Won’t Help

Mass testing in Macau began over the weekend and will continue through Tuesday, but this will not upset the official meeting that will also weigh in on the new gaming laws. However, recent developments have prompted Bernstein, a brokerage firm, to quickly adjust its gross gaming revenue (GGR) outlook for June.

Bernstein expects GGR to plummet by 91% in June 2019. This comes only a week after Bernstein that the average daily revenue should outpace May’s numbers by 11%. Evidently, this is no longer feasible, the analysts think. Even though Macau has stopped short of shutting down casinos, the lack of cross-border travelers and many stay-at-home mandates have made it virtually impossible to attract customers.

In fact, it could easily be looked down upon. Analysts Vitaly Umansky, Louis Li, and Shirley Yang said that while the GGR hit MOP93 million ($11.50 million) in the period between June 13 and June 19, there will be no new revenue coming for a while.

COVID-19 Cases in Macau Increase

The “dynamic zero COVID policy” means that there will be virtually no economic activity whatsoever, the analysts wrote, posting a rather grim outlook for what to expect next.

So far, there have been 23 women and 11 men infected with the disease. Many of these cases, some 26 in fact, are classified as asymptomatic, making them only detectable through the invasive nose swabs that are capable of producing the best analysis on whether a person had been infected.

There have been hundreds of thousands of tests already completed on the ground and Macau is continuing to monitor the situation. However, casinos need to brace themselves for a dry patch ahead.