Casino stocks fall on fears of fresh clamp

Casino stocks pulled back on news that China's top legislature was reviewing an amendment to the country's criminal law, proposing a new crime definition for overseas gambling operations aimed at luring Chinese citizens.

There would also be new penalties introduced for establishing casino operations within the mainland, although exactly what any penalties would be - or how they might be enforced - have yet to be revealed.

Galaxy Entertainment (0027) was down 0.96 percent, MGM China (2282) fell 1.28 percent, Sands China (1928) dropped 3.53 percent, SJM (0880) dived 3.56 percent and Wynn Macau (1128) plunged 5.92 percent.

In 2019, the Macau SAR collected 299 million patacas (HK$307.97 million) in taxes on commissions paid by casinos to junkets, according to the government's budget execution report. That represented a year-on-year drop of 24.1 percent.

Lam Kai Kuong, director of the Macau Junket Association, said in an interview with the Macao Daily News that China is stepping up efforts to clamp down on capital outflow and overseas gambling, and the law amendment would affect the recovery in gaming revenue.

Macau's gross gaming revenues nosedived 90 percent year-on-year in September to 2.21 billion patacas, data from the Gaming Inspection & Coordination Bureau showed.

Macau's tourist arrivals plunged by 87.4 percent from a year ago to 77,092 during the first four days of the Golden Week holiday. Mainland arrivals during the period also fell by 86.2 percent year-on-year to 72,684. That accounted for 94.3 percent of total tourist arrivals, the Macau Government Tourism Office said.

Tourist visas, through which most visitors enter the territory, were reinstated for all provinces from September 23.