In Macau, second-quarter aggregated gross gaming revenues reportedly grew by 17.2% year-on-year to reach just over $9.11 billion although combined takings from VIP players increased by only 14.4% to hit $5.13 billion.

According to a report from GGRAsia citing official figures from the enclave’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, the most recent figures mean that the over 30 casinos in Macau chalked up six-month aggregated gross gaming revenues of $18.58 billion, which represented a rise of almost 19% year-on-year.

However, GGRAsia reported that the three-month VIP figure was the smallest year-on-year advance since the final three months of 2016 when the improvement hit only 12.7%. It detailed that the ensuing quarters had seen the city’s casino industry record high-roller growth rates of around 20% while the figure for the first three months of 2018 had stood at 21%.

Breaking down the second-quarter figures further, GGRAsia reported that aggregated gross gaming revenues from VIP baccarat had accounted for 55.7% of the sector’s total, which embodied a drop of some 1.3% quarter-on-quarter, although the six-month figure of nearly $10.39 billion had represented a swell of 17.7% year-on-year.

GGRAsia reported that the recent slow-down in aggregated gross gaming revenues from VIP players had primarily been due to a softening in the economy of mainland China although the mass-market segment saw overall second-quarter takings improve by 20.8% year-on-year to hit approximately $4.04 billion.

The figures also showed that second-quarter mass-market aggregated gross gaming revenues from the city’s 17,296 slots had risen by 23.6% year-on-year to just over $471.29 million while the $81.76 million recorded from its 6,588 live multi-game products had represented an advance of 7.7%.

GGRAsia reported that the most recent results prompted brokerage firm JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited to predict that Macau is likely to see VIP aggregated gross gaming revenues grow at only about 9% for the duration of the second half of 2018. This forecast coincided with Japanese counterpart, Nomura Holdings Incorporated, halving its calculation for year-on-year high-roller growth rates for the entirety of next year to only 7%.