The amount of cash the Macau casino industry contributed to the local economy in 2018 reportedly hit a four-year high at almost $25.2 billion while the sector’s annual gross surplus grew by 14.8% when compared with the previous twelve-month period to top $22.4 billion.

According to a report from GGRAsia citing the local government’s own Gaming Sector Survey for 2018, this first figure represented a rise of 13.6% year-on-year although the casino sector was said to have spent 13.3% more on the ‘purchase of goods, commission paid and customer rebate’ at approximately $8.5 billion.

Commissions climb:

GGRAsia reported that the Friday examination had also shown that Macau’s casino operators paid some $15.8 billion in commissions in 2018, which represented an increase of 11.2% year-on-year, while this tally had represented about 54% of an official government classification referred to as ‘the ten enterprises engaging in gaming activities.’

Expenses swell:

Macau is home to some of the world’s largest and most famous gambling venues including the Casino Grand Lisboa from SJM Holdings Limited as well as Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited’s Studio City Macau while the study reportedly moreover showed that operating expenses run up by local casino firms in 2018 had swelled by 14% year-on-year to well over $3.9 billion. The investigation purportedly indicated that a major share of this escalation had been down to a 13.2% comparable surge in the provision of ‘complimentary goods and services’ such as food and hotel accommodation to in excess of $1.8 billion.

Costs conundrum:

In terms of management and contractual services for 2018, Macau’s casino industry had chalked up an increase of 17.3% year-on-year to nearly $754.7 million while publicity and market research costs had risen by 18.4% to surpass $705 million. These were purportedly complimented by a 4.9% escalation in employee costs to $2.7 billion although non-operating expenses such as interest and depreciation charges for the twelve-month period fell by 2.9% to $573.4 million.