Bank Of America Highlights Macau's Large Year Over Year Gross Gaming Revenue Decline

Billy Ng of Bank of America highlighted in a note on Friday that Macau's December's Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) 30 percent year over year decline seen in December was weaker than expected. According to Ng, December's GGR was the lowest since November 2011 and was weaker than the 22 percent year over year decline expected. Accordingly, for the full-year Macau's GGR declined by 2.6 percent, the first full-year decline seen since the opening of the Macau gaming market in 2002. Based on Ng's estimates, mass GGR could have declined by a high-teens rate in December while VIP GGR could be lower by 35 percent to 40 percent due to the full-month impact of the reclassification of some of the mass tables to VIP, a stricter implementation of transit visa policies and disruptions from the recent visit of China's President Xi who visited the region. Looking forward to 2015, Ng expects the VIP segment will continue to be under pressure due to new measures that require VIP gaming promoters to present proof they are free of any criminal record before setting up accounts for their gambling clients.