Macau casino revenue falls again, analysts differ on recovery

Casino revenue in Macau declined for an eighth straight month in January. But analysts, who remain bullish on Macau for the long term, disagree on whether it’s time to buy shares.

I’ve had a busy few weeks writing about Macau on Foirbes.com. It was a dismal December for Macau, a record monthly drop capping the first down revenue year since liberalization. As revenue fell, tumbling casino share prices hit Hong Kong’s richest hard. The drivers of high roller revenue, junket promoters are pulling back in Macau to look for greener pastures in Asia and beyond. In the midst of Macau’s dark times, Las Vegas Sands founder, chairman, chief executive and resident visionary Sheldon Adelson becomes Sands China’s CEO, replacing highly respected Edward Tracy, who will retire in March.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.