City leader optimistic about 2023 gaming revenue forecast after uplifting figure for January

Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has reiterated his belief that gross gaming revenue for the year of 2023 will reach MOP130 billion (US$16 billion), saying that he was confident that the goal was attainable.

The city leader repeated his administration’s rosy forecast a second time in more than a month after the city raked in about MOP11.6 billion in casino revenue last month – the highest since January 2020.

Banking giant JP Morgan’s analyst earlier predicted that the first 19 days of February had generated MOP7.2 billion, or a daily average of MOP375 to MOP380 million.

Last week, investment bank Morgan Stanley estimated February’s gaming revenue at MOP11.2 billion.

To achieve the government’s goal, it will take a monthly average of 10.83 billion in theory. However, such figures do not take into account seasonality.

“Investment banks predicted that the gaming revenue would just return to half where it was last year,” said Ho. “Whether or not their forecasts were accurate, I won’t make any comment.”

The SAR’s gross gaming revenue hit a new annual low in 2022, with only MOP42.2 billion made over 12 months, down 51.4 per cent compared to a year earlier.