March Baccarat revenue fell less than 9% versus last year. Once again the decline was driven by the Rolling Chip (RC) segment where revenues dropped 12%. The higher margin Mass Market (MM) segment actually increased 1%. Good luck prevented a bigger decline in RC revenues. However, even after normalizing hold % between the two periods, total March revenues in Macau would still have only dropped 13%, an improvement from the 17-19% drop in January and February.
The Mass Market performance was encouraging. Despite the much talked about visa restrictions, MM revenue grew versus last year. RC faces difficult comparisons through August as the segment was flooded with junket credit last year.
In terms of market share, both LVS and MGM gained a decent amount of market share as can be seen below. However, both were attributable to good luck on the RC tables. Volume, on the other hand, remained consistent with the prior months. Crown and Wynn Macau did gain a little RC volume share from February, mainly at the expense of SJM. In the MM segment, Wynn Macau and MGM both experienced a slight sequential increase in revenue share, mostly coming from LVS and Galaxy.
We continue to be positive on the Macau market and the March results support our thesis. Despite the visa restrictions, MM continues to be resilient. If they haven't already, visa restrictions may be eased later this year when the new Chief Executive takes over. The RC segment faces difficult comparisons only through August when we expect revenues to flatten. With growth stemming from the higher margin MM and potential junket commission caps in place, market EBITDA growth could be positive later in the year.
