Macau’s recovery is well underway and will only benefit further from the opening of MGM Cotai in 2017, according to international ratings agency Fitch.
In the wake of a fourth consecutive month of rising gross gaming revenue for the city in November, which saw a 14.4% year-on-year increase, Fitch Senior Director Alex Bumazhny said that a greater focus on mass market and the opening of new properties this year had proved a positive for Asia’s gaming hub.
“Macau gaming, now firmly at the bottom of the cycle, has better long-term prospects given investments in new supply, improvements in mass market indicators and under-penetration of gaming throughout the rest of Asia,” he said. “That assumes the revenue improvements seen recently stick and then increase slightly when the MGM Cotai opens.
“The mass-market segment appears to be responding well to new supply so far, with year-on-year gaming revenue for this segment increasing 4 percent in third-quarter 2016.
“Macau operators’ commentary on their long beleaguered VIP segments started to turn positive this fall.”
