Macau casino revenues decline 33% in September

To no surprise, the Macau casino industry suffered through its 16th straight monthly revenue decline during September and the market's eighth straight month of drops of more than 30%.

Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said Thursday the region's 36 large and small casinos collected $2.1 billion in gaming revenue in September, a decline of 33%.

The market has been in a free fall for nearly a year-and-a-half over a sinking Chinese economy and a mainland China government crackdown on corruption that has ensnared several of the high-end junket operators tasked with bring big spending gamblers to Macau's casinos.

"September results were broadly in line with expectations as a better start to the month was quickly erased by the seasonal, and softer this year, pre-Golden Week malaise at month end," Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Carlo Santarelli told investors. "While the September result is the smallest level of decline since January, one would be hard pressed to call it encouraging."

Through September, Macau gaming revenue is down 36% over the same nine months of 2014. Macau, the world's largest gaming market by revenue, produced a record $45.2 billion in gaming totals in 2013. The figure fell 2.6% in 2014.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Resorts International operate casinos in Macau and are expanding their holdings.

Even as the market continues to slide, more competition is coming to Macau.

The 1,600-room Macau Studio City Hotel-Casino being built by Melco-Crown is expected to open by the end of October. Las Vegas Sands' $2.7 billion The Parisian Macao resort will open next summer, while Wynn Resorts set a late March opening for the $4.1 billion Wynn Palace. MGM Resorts International expects to open its $2.9 billion MGM Cotai late next year.

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