Sector Snap: Casinos With Macau Properties Decline

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of casino operators with properties in Macau fell Thursday as speculation grew that the government was tightening visa restrictions.

The current policy allows residents from the Guangdong province to visit Macau once a month. The province is the largest source of Mainland Chinese visitors to the enclave.

However, new reports suggested that the government had backpeddled and was implementing an updated rule that would only allow Guangdong residents to visit Macau every other month.

Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal, and stricter visa restrictions limiting how often a bulk of its visitors can come could crimp gaming revenue.

But Robert LaFleur of Susquehanna Financial Group says what really happened is that the Guangdong government has changed the way visas are approved, so sometimes it could take one month while other times it may take two months.

Still, LaFleur believes Macau's gaming revenue surge of more than 50 percent last month rattled authorities.