澳門上月賭收瀉兩成 料續低迷

FINANCE MACAU'S GAMBLING REVENUE FELL 20% LAST MONTH, EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO SLUMP

The Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau announced yesterday that the gaming revenue in January this year was 6.344 billion patacas, down 20.9% year-on-year. Although it was better than market expectations, it fell by 31%, but it was still 75% lower than the pre-epidemic level in 2019, mainly due to epidemic prevention.

The slump in tourists and the regulator's crackdown on junket operators, commonly known as junket operators, have affected them. Analysts expect casino VIP revenue to drop 43% this year, while overall gaming revenue is expected to rise 59% from a year earlier. Macau's gaming industry is likely to remain sluggish in February as the mainland tightens border restrictions and hotel bookings in Macau are weak. Bidding for new gambling licenses may be detrimental to foreign investment.

In fact, in recent months, the Macau authorities have successively arrested the owners and management of a number of gaming junket companies on the grounds that they are involved in overseas online gambling, which will inevitably have an impact on the gaming industry. The analysis pointed out that from the joint arrest operation of China and Cambodia in 2019, to the amendment of the law in the Mainland in 2020, "to solicit citizens to gamble abroad" is a criminal offence.

In addition, the above-mentioned Macau Junket Operator incident shows that the Mainland is committed to blocking capital outflow. Vulnerability. Because of this, it is estimated that the bidding conditions for new Macau casino licenses in the future will take into account the applicant's ability to fight money laundering and prevent capital outflows from the mainland, or it may be unfavorable to foreign capital. Looking back at the pre-pandemic period, the gaming industry was extremely prosperous in many countries in Southeast Asia.

With the advantages of low wages, low land prices, and low gambling tax rates (as low as 4 to 5% in some countries, much lower than 35% in Macau) Foreign investment (including Chinese capital) builds casinos, hotels and other tourist facilities in the local area, attracting tourists from all over the world, especially China, to gamble, which has led to the rise of online gambling. Due to the large number of local and transnational problems arising from online gambling and fraud, in August 2019, Cambodia characterized online gambling as endangering national security, believing that it may become a money laundering destination, such as continuing to open online gambling, powerful large enterprises will not invest in Cambodia.

In the past, China and Cambodia cooperated in law enforcement for many times, arresting more than 1,000 illegal persons in Cambodia, deporting them to the mainland, and claiming to completely eliminate illegal online gambling gangs in Cambodia. Mainland committed to cracking down on cross-border gambling.

Later, in 2020, the mainland passed amendments to the criminal law, including amending the regulations on gambling crimes and increasing penalties. It is reported that the reason for the serious cross-border gambling crimes in recent years has resulted in the outflow of a large amount of funds. Since November last year, Zhou Zhuohua, the former helmsman of Macau Suncity Group (01383), and Chen Ronglian, the former chairman of Macau Legend (01680), have been arrested.

Recently, the Macau Legislative Council is scheduled to review the draft amendment to the "Gaming Law". Among them, there are a number of "spicier" suggestions for the control of junket operators, including not sharing with gaming companies, only charging commissions, and a jigger operator. The company can only serve one gaming company, etc. In January this year, the number of jigger companies that have been licensed has dropped by 46.5% year-on-year to 46. At present, people from all walks of life are very concerned about the news of the renewal of gambling licenses.

Risk assessment agency Steve Vickers and Associates believes that the bidding for new gambling licenses is not unrelated to politics. It is necessary to pay attention to the policy of preventing capital outflow in the mainland, and the absorption of capital from mainland gamblers over the past few years. It seems contrary to the US-funded gaming companies that pay dividends back to their parent companies.

(Original – Chinese version)

澳門上月賭收瀉兩成 料續低迷

澳門博彩監察協調局昨公布，今年1月博彩收入63.44億澳門元，按年大跌20.9%，雖已好過市場預期瀉31%，但仍較2019年疫情前水平低75%，主要受防疫引發遊客大跌和監管機構打擊博彩中介人（俗稱疊碼仔）影響。分析師預計，賭場貴賓廳收入今年將挫43%，而整體博彩收入則料按年增59%。隨着內地收緊邊境限制，澳門酒店預訂入住率疲弱，2月博彩業恐仍低迷。

新賭牌競投恐不利外資

事實上，澳門當局近月就涉及境外網絡賭博為由，先後拘捕多名博彩中介人公司的老闆及管理層，對博彩業必然構成影響。分析指出，由2019年中國和柬埔寨兩國聯合拘捕行動，到2020年內地修法，將「招攬公民出境賭博」列為刑事罪行，加上上述澳門疊碼仔事件，在在顯示內地致力堵塞資本外流漏洞。亦因如此，估計未來澳門新賭牌的競投條件將考慮到申請者在反洗錢和防止內地資本外流的能力，或對外資不利。

回看疫情大流行前，博彩業在東南亞不少國家異常興盛，以低工資、低地價、低賭稅稅率（部分國家低至4到5%，大幅低於澳門的35%）等優勢，吸引外資（包括華資）在當地興建賭場、酒店等旅遊設施，招攬世界各地特別是中國的遊客賭博，從而令網絡賭博事業興起。

由於網絡賭博和詐騙衍生大量本土和跨國之間的問題，在2019年8月，柬埔寨將網絡賭博定性為危害國家安全，認為有可能成為洗錢目的地，如繼續開放網賭，有實力的大型企業不會到柬埔寨投資。當年中柬兩國就多次合作執法，拘捕逾千名在柬違法人士，將其遣返內地，並聲稱徹底清除盤據在柬的非法網絡賭博團夥。

內地致力打擊跨境賭博

及後內地在2020年通過刑法修正案，包括修改賭博犯罪規定，加大處罰力度，據報原因是近年跨境賭博犯罪嚴重，致使大量資金外流。在去年11月起，澳門太陽城集團（01383）前舵手周焯華及澳門勵駿（01680）前主席陳榮煉等人被捕。近期澳門立法會正就修改《博彩法》草案排期審議，當中就對疊碼仔的管制有多項「加辣」建議，包括不能與博企分成，只能收取佣金，並且一間疊碼仔公司只能服務一間博企等。今年1月公布獲發牌的疊碼仔公司數目，已按年大減46.5%至46間。

現時各界甚為關注續賭牌消息，風險評估機構Steve Vickers and Associates認為，新賭牌的競投與政治不無關係，要留意內地防止資本外流的政策，與過去多年來吸納內地賭客資本並以派股息形式回流到母企的美資博企來說，似乎相違背。