Macau casino revenue again set a record last month, soaring 42.3 per cent from a year earlier to 26.8 billion patacas (HK$25.5 billion).
Any signs of a looming economic slowdown failed to dent turnover on the high-stakes baccarat tables, as the city's gambling volumes enjoyed their usual surge over the mainland's National Day 'golden week' holiday.
The October haul marked Macau's sixth new monthly record in the past nine months, beating the most recent record set in August by 8.4 per cent.
At US$3.3 billion, casino revenue last month was almost as much as the city's full year total in 2003 - and surpassed the US$3 billion taken on the Las Vegas Strip in the first six months of this year.
October revenue was 'a pretty strong number, slightly better than expected', Macquarie Securities' head of Asian consumer and gaming research Gary Pinge said.
Macau's 34 casinos booked 221.2 billion patacas in revenue in the first 10 months of the year, up 45.4 per cent from a year ago.
'We expect a strong finish to the year with gaming revenue approaching 270 billion patacas,' Union Gaming Research Macau analyst Grant Govertsen wrote yesterday in a research note.
