\nDespite fears around a trade war and China’s economic slowdown, the narrow-moat Macau gaming market’s competitive positioning and demand remain strong,” Morningstar’s Chelsey Tam said in a note. “We believe the current weak sentiment presents a good buying opportunity for long-term investors.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Tam believes the Macau gaming industry will cool in terms of GGR in 2019. She forecasts a “low single digits” decline.<\/p>\n
Mass Market Focus<\/b><\/h2>\n
Casino operators have sought to reduce their reliance on high roller VIPs in recent years. Resorts have diversified to cater to more of the general public, and it’s lead to higher profits.<\/p>\n
JPMorgan analysts DS Kim and Sean Zhuang differ from Tam’s 2019 forecast. They instead believe that Macau casinos will actually increase GGR in the single-digit range. But they do share the viewpoint that the six licensed gaming operators in Macau present buying opportunities.<\/p>\n
“Most of the negatives are well known and already \u2013 if not overly \u2013 priced in,” Kim and Zhuang explained last week. “The trends in Macau have been surprisingly resilient despite a very challenging macro backdrop and ever-growing concerns over a downturn.”<\/p>\n
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Billionaire Lawrence Ho, the founder and CEO of Melco Resorts, says margins are much better on the mass market than the VIP. “Our usual margin is four times higher,” he explained last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Once a rather isolated territory, Macau is today easily accessible via car due to the recent opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, a 34-mile bridge that connects the two territories. The Macau Government Tourism Office says a record 35 million people traveled to the enclave last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Macau gaming regulators are signing off on new-to-market mass gaming tables for two casino operators in the enclave. The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau \u2013 stylized as DICJ \u2013 has approved 50 new mass market table games for Melco Resorts, and 25 for MGM China. The latter tables weren’t specified as to whether they will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":96771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,18,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Macau Gaming Regulators Approve New Mass Market Tables<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n