Macau revenues up in September

Gambling revenue in Macau, the world’s largest land casino market, rose 12.3 percent in September year-on-year, Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau data released Thursday showed.

Nevertheless, September’s revenue amounted to a weaker-than-expected 23.87 billion patacas ($2.99 billion) compared with MOP21.24 billion in the same month last year. Analysts had forecast September growth to be up 15-17 percent ahead of a national holiday week starting in October.

Reuters news service attributed the lower numbers to a slowdown in China’s economy and increased political scrutiny due to an impending leadership change that has taken its toll on the country’s big-spending billionaire punters, pushing Macau’s gambling revenue growth levels down substantially over the past 5 months.

The growth rate was higher than August’s 5.5 percent year-on-year rise.

In the first nine months of the year, revenue rose 15 percent from the same period in 2011 to MOP223.3 billion.