Macau's Casino Revenue Drops 37% in Twelve Month Straight Decline
Macau casino stocks were still in the red Monday. That's following the news that casino revenue for the Chinese peninsula has dropped 37.1 percent in May from last year's numbers, coming in at 20.35 Pacata. The latest results mark the twelfth straight month of decline for Macau's casinos, but beat analyst estimates of a 38.5% revenue drop. Despite the weak forecast, casino operators including MGM (MGM), Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands (LVS) are still working on over $20 billion worth of new construction. The slowdown was also seen elsewhere; the hotel occupancy rate was 79.4 percent, down 5.9 percent from last year. Macau's casinos have also been hit by Beijing's new smoking ban regulation and the government's attempts to turn the gambling hub into more of a conference location. However, official attempts to rebrand the gambling paradise don't appear to have taken off. The latest results show that the number of attendees for conferences, meetings and exhibitions is down 16 percent over the last twelve months. Back in February of 2014 Macau's gambling revenue soared by around 40 percent. Now, gamblers and tourists are being put under pressure by China's much publicized crackdown on corruption.
