Macau casino revenue plunges to 18-month low

Gross gaming revenue in Macau fell 68% year-over-year during April to 2.68B patacas ($331M), which marked the lowest tally for the gambling region in 18 months and fell short of the expectation of analysts.

Revenue fell 27% in April from the level recorded in March and was 89% off from the pre-pandemic level of April of 2019.

COVID restrictions in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong cut into traffic to Macau during April and are expected to negatively impact traffic during the five-day Labor Day break at the start of May.

On Wall Street, JPMorgan warned meaningful easing to Macau travel may only be seen late this year before ramping up toward a full recovery in 2023. However, Bank of America noted a recent positive development for Macau with COVID restrictions eased a bit in the neighboring Guangdong province. The firm said it remains constructive on the Macau sector on the view that while near term GGR recovery will remain dragged by COVID outbreaks in China, the business shall be able to rebound quickly once the situation improves based on the previous experience. BofA also believes the recent investor concern about potential liability from junket closures is excessive. Current Macau sector valuation is at called attractive at 10.5X the 2023 EV/EBITDA estimate.

Macau casino stocks: Wynn Macau (OTCPK:WYNMF, OTCPK:WYNMY), Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN), Sands China (OTCPK:SCHYY, OTCPK:SCHYF), Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS), MGM China (OTCPK:MCHVF, OTCPK:MCHVY). MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM), Galaxy Entertainment (OTCPK:GXYEF), SJM Holdings (OTCPK:SJMHF, OTCPK:SJMHY), Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO), Studio City International (MSC).