Lionel Leong: “Too early to tell” on gaming

“It is still too early to tell if [Macau’s] gross gaming revenue will stop dropping. It takes more time to observe the situation,” Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac said on Wednesday in Beijing, where he was attending China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) as a member of the Macau delegation. Macau’s gross gaming revenues dropped 0.1 per cent year-on-year. It’s also been an improvement for three consecutive months already. However, the Secretary pointed out that this year’s Chinese New Year holidays, a traditional hot season for Mainland tourists travelling to the SAR, fell entirely in February, while last year some of the holidays fell at the end of February and some fell in early March. “Any conclusion that gaming revenues will stop dropping or rebound is still too early. We need to constantly monitor the situation, especially the neighbouring regions, customer sources and capital flow,” said Mr. Leong. As an NPC Macau delegation member, Mr. Leong also said he would focus on how to utilise national policies to improve the economic diversification of Macau, as well as the development of the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry. SJM sees mass market improvement Gaming operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) has seen a slight improvement in the business performance of the mass market at its properties and some VIP rooms, said Ambrose So Shu Fai, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SJM. However, the CEO said such signs cannot reflect the general trend yet. “Macau’s February gross gaming revenue has dropped 0.1 per cent year-on-year. And I hope for the whole year, the gaming revenues will stay stable or increase slightly,” Mr. So told reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of attending the political gathering as a member of Macau’s delegation to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee (CPPCC) in Beijing, as reported by Macau media. When asked whether February’s positive gaming revenues performance was only seasonal, he said that March will be the key month by which to gauge the future trend and whether or not to increase the number of VIP rooms.