Gambling revenue in Macau rose 45% in April from a year earlier, as mainland Chinese visitors to the world's largest gambling market helped push the results to a third straight monthly record.
Macau is the only place in China where casinos are legal. Gambling-revenue growth in the territory has been on a tear since the end of 2009, despite local government policies to slow the booming industry and encourage a more measured pace of growth.
Gambling revenue in Macau rose to 20.51 billion Macanese patacas (US$2.56 billion) last month, from 14.19 billion patacas a year earlier, Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said Tuesday. The total for April surpassed the previous monthly record of 20.09 billion patacas, hit just a month earlier in March.
Last month's growth follows blistering year-to-year increases of 48% in both February and March, and a 58% surge for all of last year.
"The 20.5 billion patacas reported for April will likely be seen as good but not great," said RBS analyst Philip Tulk. "While it represents another all-time record revenue month for Macau, we had seen estimates as high as 22.5 billion patacas."
Mr. Tulk added that RBS doesn't plan to change its 2011 Macau forecast as a result of the latest data. The firm continues to expect a nearly 29% year-to-year rise in the territory's gambling revenue this year.
Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip as the world's biggest gambling market in 2006 and last year raked in about four times the Strip's gambling revenue. Analysts expect Macau's gambling revenue to grow to five times the size of the Strip's this year.
U.S. casino companies Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd., with units in Macau, are benefiting from the Chinese territory's growth as Las Vegas remains sluggish. MGM Resorts International also is benefiting from the territory's gains, through a joint venture with a daughter of Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho.
The U.S. companies compete in Macau against Mr. Ho's SJM Holdings Ltd., the market's largest operator with about one-third of the territory's gambling revenue; Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., co-chaired by Mr. Ho's son Lawrence and Australian James Packer; and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., controlled by the family of Hong Kong tycoon Lui Che Woo and primed to expand by opening a nearly US$2 billion casino-resort May 15.
Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen said last month's revenue record wasn't a surprise. Mr. Govertsen said April had one additional weekend day compared with 2010 and casinos benefited from an early start to the May 1 Labor Day holiday, which began on Saturday, April 30.