The Macau SAR Government reported significant growth when it came to gaming tax revenue generated in January 2024. The city earned MOP$7.34 billion, or US$911 million in January, which is 365% more than it had in January 2023.
The industry is recovering:
As the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) reported back then, the tax revenue in the same month 2023 was MOP$1.58 billion, or US$195 million.
Macau suffered a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic due to various restrictions that took place back then. However, the city is recovering, and the figures prove that. In 2022, when the traveling restrictions were still in place, the revenue was MOP$42.4 billion (US$5.26 million), while after the restrictions were lifted on January 8, 2023, the annual tax revenue was MOP183.06 billion (US$22.75 billion).
According to the source, in December 2023, the GGR was MOP$18.57 billion (US$2.30 billion). Compared to December 2022, an increase of 433% was recorded.
In its report, DSF included its budget for gaming tax revenues, which were MOP$83.6 billion (US$10.4 billion) in 2024. The budget is 82% of the whole 2024 budget, which is MOP$102.0 billion, or US$12.7 billion. The revenue generated in January is 8.8% of the whole gaming tax budget the government prepared for 2024.
Upcoming auction:
Meanwhile, a second attempt at auctioning 36 real estate properties owned by former Suncity Group Chairman Alvin Chau is reportedly underway after the Macau Court’s first attempt in Sept 2023 failed to attract bidders.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, in July 2023 it was decided that the properties would be auctioned off. The auction of the belongings of Chau and Grupo Tai Tak Lei was supposed to be sold on September 11, however, the auction wasn’t a success.
The potential buyers will be able to purchase 31 parking spaces and five commercial properties. Parking spaces can be purchased for the price of MOP$1.133.000 to MOP$1.184.500, and commercial properties will cost from MOP$55.517.000 to MOP$21.9 million, which is the same price as it was at the previous auction.
The properties are worth about MOP$600 million, or US$74.5 million.
The interested parties will be able to bid on the auction which will be held on February 20.
The auction will be held a month after Chau was sentenced to 18 years in prison. On top of that, he and his partners are obligated to pay over MOP$25.5 billion in damages to the government.
Will the properties be sold this time? It’s a valid question since the Macau property market is going through hard times. The Financial Services Bureau revealed that in January only 105 properties were purchased, which is a decrease of 93% compared to the same month in 2019.