Macao’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) could reach 233.9 billion patacas in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 28 percent, according to projections from Morgan Stanley cited in local and specialist gaming media.
The banking firm released its forecast for 2024 following the publication of strong GGR data for December 2023, and the 2023 financial year, by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) on Monday.
Morgan Stanley analysts, Praveen Choudhary and Gareth Leung, said in a research note that Macao’s 2024 GGR could reach 80 percent of 2019 levels – a jump from 2023, which saw GGR at $183.1 billion patacas for the year, or 62 percent of the total recorded in the last year before the Covid-19 pandemic.
[See more: Macao casinos’ annual GGR hits 183.1 billion patacas, ending year strongly]
The analysts noted that the December GGR total of $18.57 billion patacas was especially promising, as it was 6 percent higher than market expectations, outpacing the regular month-on-month growth rate of 5 percent.
For the month of January, Choudhary and Leung said that the GGR would remain stable, with an expected total of $18.8 billion patacas or 75 percent of 2019’s figures.
Meanwhile, Macao’s six gaming concessionaires collectively paid more than 59.5 billion patacas in taxes during the first 11 months of 2023, according to figures recently published by the Financial Services Bureau.
