Macau VIP revenue posts first quarterly gains in over two years

You might want to sit down before hearing this, but Macau casinos’ VIP gaming revenue actually posted positive growth in the final quarter of 2016.

Figures released Monday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) covering the final three months of 2016 show VIP baccarat revenue of MOP 33.3b (US $4.2b), up 12.6% from Q4 2015’s total of MOP 29.6b. This marks the first time since Q1 2014 that VIP gaming has enjoyed year-on-year growth.

The late surge allowed the VIP sector to claim a 55% share of Q4’s overall casino gaming revenue pie, an improvement from Q3’s 52% (although market watchers claim the industry’s sleight of hand regarding gaming table reclassification means Q3’s VIP share was actually closer to 44%). Interestingly, Q4 2015 was also that year’s strongest showing for VIP gaming.

The VIP gains have piggybacked on the overall Macau gaming market’s rebound, having closed out 2016 with five straight months of year-on-year revenue gains after over two years of declines. However, the VIP tally for 2016 as a whole remained in the red, down nearly 7% year-on-year to MOP 119b ($14.9b).