Macao confidence slips on Wall Street

2007-10-04 14:53:34

Confidence in the world's new gaming capital has taken a knock after it was revealed that casino revenues were lower than expected in September.

News that casinos sales rose by an annualized 55 per cent rather than the expected 65 to 70 per cent climb caused shares to plunge in casinos that have a major interest in the Chinese enclave.

Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Wynn Resorts have both suffered falls in the stock market.

However, critics say that Wall Street has overreacted as the September sales figures are only preliminary and could be revised.

The official data is not due until November.

According to analyst Lawrence Klatzkin, gambling capacity is up 93 per cent year, compared with a year ago.

This is because new resorts like the Venetian Macao in August and Crown Macau Hotel Casino have opened their doors to Chinese and international gamblers.