Macau facing double-digit doom in March; casino croupiers an endangered species

Macau casinos are on pace for a truly sucktastic performance in March, spoiling hopes that February’s surge represented the beginning of a turnaround for the struggling casino hub.

February came within one-tenth of one percentage point of stopping Macau’s now 21-month streak of declining casino gaming revenue, but early indications are that the figures for March will be back to double-digit disaster territory.

Research firm Sanford C. Bernstein issued a report this week saying it expects March gaming revenue to decline between 18% and 24% from the same month last year, a significantly larger fall than the 10% Bernstein had previously forecast. While based on only the first week of March, Bernstein’s report show average daily revenue down 21% from February’s average.

The dire prognosis was echoed by Telsey Advisory Group, which said the month-to-date figures were “somewhat worse than expected.” While cautioning that there was plenty of time for improvement, Telsey suggested February’s strong showing was “driven by easy comparisons rather than meaningful improvement in market fundamentals.” Telsey expects a 24% decline when March is through.