Macau's average daily gross gaming revenue reached MOP733 million ($91 million) in early August, up 12% from July's MOP654 million ($81 million). Year-on-year growth stood at 3%, compared to MOP715 million ($89 million) in August last year.
Citigroup analysts attribute the recovery to pent-up demand following the FIFA World Cup and a packed concert schedule in the first half of August. Field checks showed VIP volumes rose 12–15% month-on-month, while mass-market play grew 10–12%. VIP hold ran slightly above normal.
The broker maintains its August forecast at MOP23.5 billion ($2.91 billion), a 6% increase year-on-year. Citigroup expects further momentum from upcoming concerts by ITZY, Lay Zhang and i-dle, as well as the Tencent Music Entertainment Awards at Galaxy Arena.
July GGR fell 8.4% year-on-year to MOP20.26 billion ($2.51 billion), though it climbed 9.4% month-on-month. The annual decline was blamed on the World Cup, which ended July 19 and diverted player attention. For the first seven months, cumulative GGR reached MOP147.16 billion ($18.22 billion), up 4.4% year-on-year.
