Macau Considers Casinos Limits
Macau’s government met with the city’s six casino operators Monday and said it would review the size and growth of the industry, including potential restrictions on the number of gambling tables.
The government of the Chinese gambling enclave didn’t release specifics. But depending on the results of the review, government officials could enact new restrictions on one of the gambling world’s most promising growth markets.
The government in its statement said that the six operators agreed that officials should prevent “unlimited expansion” of Macau’s gambling sector. Government officials the review would include the number of gaming tables. There were 4,390 gaming tables in Macau at the middle of the year, according to the latest figures from Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
Francis Tam, Macau’s secretary for economy and finance, on Monday told representatives of the six operators, which includes the Macau arms of Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Las Vegas Sands Corp., that the government was also seeking to raise the entry-age limit for casinos, to 21 years old from the current 18-year-old limit.
Macau’s government also said it would ban slot machines from residential areas of Macau. The city itself has about 13,500 slot machines. The slot-machine regulations would be drawn up in the next two to three months, the government said, while the new age limit would require approval by Macau’s legislature.
Macau’s government has long cautioned against expanding too quickly, fearing social dislocations and imbalances.
Macau’s gambling market is widely considered to be one of the most promising in the world, because the former Portuguese colony is the only place in China where gambling is legal. But Monday’s meeting underscores the considerable policy uncertainties involved in doing business there.
Growth has accelerated in recent years as Western casino operators have moved in, pressuring local operators.
But last September, visitor arrivals and gambling revenues fell steeply after Beijing began restricting visas for mainland Chinese traveling to Macau. While the central government and provincial officials have been silent on the issue, the move was widely interpreted as a sign of unease by Chinese officials about Macau’s quick growth.
In March, Macau’s gross gambling revenue fell 5.9% from a year earlier to 9.61 billion Macau patacas, or about US$1.2 billion. Sands last year halted two expansion projects at the Venetian, while Hong Kong’s Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. postponed opening its new Cotai casino and resort until late next year at the earliest.
But growth has resumed since then. Macau’s gambling revenue in August reached a record 11.4 billion Macanese patacas, and Citigroup expects revenue totaled 10.8 billion patacas in September, typically a slow month.
U.S. casino operators have tapped into the return of positive sentiment through initial public offerings in Hong Kong. Wynn Resorts Ltd. raised US$1.6 billion last week through the public offering of a stake in its Macau arm, and on Monday raised an additional US$242.3 million through overallotments. Las Vegas Sands Corp. is also planning its own initial public offering of its Macau operations in Hong Kong later this year.
Stanley Ho, the chairman of SJM Holdings Ltd., Macau’s biggest casino operator — with more than half of Macau’s 33 casinos — has long called for restricting the number of tables in Macau to 1,000 for each of the six concession-holders. The company couldn’t be reached late Monday night local time.