【英语财经】博彩收入下滑重创澳门经济 Odds stacked against Macau’s casino operators as GDP plunges

Macau’s economy has suffered the sharpest contraction in more than a decade as the corruption crackdown in mainland China extends the unlucky streak for its Hong Kong-listed casino operators.

The former Portuguese colony, which is the only part of China where casinos are allowed, said on Monday that annualised gross domestic product shrunk by 26 per cent in the second quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of negative growth.

Corporate filings earlier this month showed that profits at Macau’s six biggest casino companies slumped by 40 per cent in the first half of the year. Pressure on the gaming groups is set to grow as they are scheduled to open more than $20bn worth of new casinos and entertainment facilities this year and next.

Robert Drake, chief financial officer of Galaxy Entertainment, one of the largest casino operators, warned that it was “too early to call the bottom”.

The Macau economy is heavily reliant on the casino industry, which expanded at breakneck pace over the past decade thanks to high-rollers from the mainland who were flush with cash from China’s boom.

But Macau experienced its first drop in annual gaming revenue last year as Chinese president Xi Jinping’s anti-graft drive scared off many Chinese VIP gamblers and tighter financing conditions restricted the credit provided to punters by the middlemen known as junkets.

Some of Macau’s casinos, which are owned by a mix of Hong Kong tycoons and US gambling moguls such as Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson, have started closing high-stakes VIP gambling rooms and laying off dealers.

“The figures speak for themselves but we have to put them into the perspective of what’s been happening since 2002,” said Glenn McCartney, an assistant professor of gaming and hospitality management at the University of Macau and the owner of an Irish pub in the territory. “We’ve had significant growth, with gaming revenues rising to seven times those of Las Vegas.”

Analysts at Morgan Stanley expect gross gaming revenue in Macau to fall 24 per cent this year to $33bn, which is still around five times the size of the revenues generated by the Las Vegas casinos.

“The economic contraction was mainly due to a decline in exports of services, of which exports of gaming services decreased by 40.5 per cent year-on-year and exports of other tourism services dropped by 21.5 per cent,” the Macau statistics agency said.

Many of Macau’s 600,000 population are still profiting from the casino and hotel industry, with the unemployment rate at just 1.8 per cent.

The government has warned that if the downturn continues, and its gaming tax income falls further, it may have to start cutting expenditure.

Mr McCartney said the government should think carefully before doing so because Macau needs to invest more in marketing, infrastructure and training if it is to realise its ambitions to become a more well-rounded tourism destination that it less dependent on casinos.

The Macau casino operators are spending billions of dollars on glitzy new resorts that will open over the next two years in a bid to broaden the appeal of the territory to mass market gamblers and non-betting tourists.

Analysts say that these new facilities may attract more visitors in future but the extra capacity could sharpen the pain for the tiny territory in the short term.

澳门经济遭遇10多年来最严重萎缩，原因是中国内地的反腐行动使得在香港上市的澳门赌场运营商持续处于不景气状态。

澳门周一公布，按年率计算，今年第二季度，澳门本地生产总值(GDP)下滑26%，为连续第4个季度出现负增长。这个前葡萄牙殖民地是中国唯一允许开设赌场的地区。

本月早些时候的公司申报文件显示，今年上半年，澳门六家最大赌场运营商的利润合计下滑40%。博彩集团还将面临更大的压力，因为它们计划今明两年投资逾200亿美元增设新赌场和娱乐设施。

最大赌场运营商之一银河娱乐(Galaxy Entertainment)的首席财务官罗伯特?德雷克(Robert Drake)警告称：“现在说市场已触底还为时尚早。”

澳门经济严重依赖博彩业，过去10年，因中国经济增长强劲而坐拥充裕资金、出手阔绰的中国内地赌客源源流入，促使澳门博彩业飞快扩张。

但去年，澳门年度博彩收入首次下滑，原因是中国国家主席习近平的反腐行动吓退了很多中国内地的VIP赌客，同时更为严格的融资条件限制了赌场中介“叠码仔”提供给赌客的贷款。

澳门一些赌场已开始关闭高赌注的VIP厅并裁减荷官。澳门赌场的所有者既有香港大亨，也有史蒂夫?韦恩(Steve Wynn)和谢尔登?阿德尔森(Sheldon Adelson)等美国博彩业巨头。

“数据说明了问题，但我们必须从2002年以来发生的变化考虑，”澳门大学(University of Macau)博彩和酒店管理助理教授、澳门一家爱尔兰风格酒吧的所有者格伦?麦卡特尼(Glenn McCartney)表示：“我们经历了很大的增长，博彩收入增加到拉斯维加斯的7倍。”

摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)分析师预测，今年，澳门博彩总收入将下滑24%，至330亿美元，仍是拉斯维加斯博彩收入的5倍左右。

澳门统计局表示：“经济萎缩的主要原因是服务出口下滑，其中博彩服务出口同比下降40.5%，其他旅游业出口下降21.5%。”

在澳门60万人口中，很多人仍受益于赌场和酒店行业，该地区失业率仅为1.8%。

澳门政府警告称，如果低迷状况持续，同时博彩税收进一步下滑，政府可能不得不开始削减支出。

麦卡特尼表示，澳门政府在采取此举之前应该三思而行，因为要实现目标，减少对赌场的依赖，成为一个更全面发展的旅游目的地，澳门需要在市场营销、基础设施和培训方面加大投入。

澳门赌场运营商正投资数十亿美元，拟在未来两年建成新的度假设施，以增强澳门对大众市场赌客和非赌博游客的吸引力。

分析师表示，这些新的设施未来可能会吸引更多游客，但新增的供给能力可能会在短期内加重澳门的困境。

译者/梁艳裳