Mayhem in May for Macau gambling

Official May 2015 gambling statistics from the Macau regulator proved as depressing as expected Monday, with year-on-year revenues plummeting 37 percent – the twelfth consecutive month of falling numbers.

Data released by the Macau government showed gambling revenue fell to 20.3 billion patacas ($2.5 billion) from 32.4 billion patacas a year earlier.

The May decline was a percentage point lower than that expected by analysts, and encouragingly was less than those recorded in the three previous months, probably due to a national holiday and the opening of two new casino resorts.

The Reuters news agency reports that Macau’s economy, which depends heavily on gambling, has contracted by 25 percent in the first quarter of this year, hit by the major Chinese government initiative against corruption and ostentatious spending.

Macau authorities have been forcing casino operators to diversify into other non-gaming businesses, linking gaming table allocations to the amount of non-gaming amenities companies offer, the agency reports.

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