NOVEMBER 5, 2009 Macau Gambling Revenue Surges to Record Article

By JACKIE CHEUNG
HONG KONG—Macau's gambling revenue rose to a record 12.7 billion patacas (US$1.59 billion) last month, analysts said in research reports published Wednesday, as a long National Day holiday and China's solid economic recovery boosted gaming demand.

Gambling revenue increased 42% in October from a year earlier, and was 18% higher than September's 10.8 billion patacas, the research reports said. The Macau government only publishes gaming data once every quarter, and it doesn't comment on monthly statistics reported by the media and analysts.

The National Day holiday, which extended from Oct. 1 to Oct. 8, was the longest to date.

Citigroup analyst Anil Daswani said in a note that Citigroup continues to recommend buying shares of Macau casino operators, underpinned by the recovery in gambling revenue and increasing visitor arrivals to the former Portuguese enclave, the only place in China where casino gambling is allowed.

Similarly J.P. Morgan analyst Billy Ng said in a note that he believes gaming revenue will continue to be strong for the rest of this year because of a lower comparison base and further improvement in China's economy.

For October SJM Holdings Ltd. held a 30.9% market share, the biggest among the six casino operators. SJM benefited from the opening of a casino in September, according to an analyst who was briefed on the monthly data. Net gaming revenue at SJM, which is controlled by Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho, rose 12% year-to-year to 3.89 billion patacas.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands' net gaming revenue increased 41% to 3.05 billion patacas, while its market share rose to 24.2% from 19.7%, according to the analyst.

At Wynn Macau Ltd., net gaming revenue rose 0.9%, though the company's market share dropped to 12.3% from 13.8%, the analyst said.

Write to Jackie Cheung at jackie.cheung@dowjones.com