Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total receipts of the gaming sector increased by 13.7% year-on-year to MOP304.71 billion. Receipts from Gaming & Related Services grew by 13.6% year-on-year to MOP304.18 billion, with receipts from gaming (MOP302.86 billion) rising by 13.6%, whereas those from food & beverage (MOP541 million) dropping by 4.6%. Interest receipts leapt by 258.3% year-on-year to MOP526 million, on account of an upsurge in deposits and loans granted by enterprises.
Total expenditure of the gaming sector amounted to MOP127.80 billion, up by 11.2% year-on-year. Expenditure on Purchase of Goods, Commission Paid & Customer Rebate rose by 13.3% to MOP68.97 billion (54.0% of total). Operating Expenses increased by 14.0% year-on-year to MOP31.84 billion (24.9%), which were mainly incurred on complimentary goods & services (such as hotel accommodation and food & beverage) provided to customers (MOP14.62 billion), management services & contractual services (MOP6.08 billion) and market research & publicity (MOP5.68 billion), representing a growth of 13.2%, 17.3% and 18.4% respectively. Compensation of Employees went up by 4.9% to MOP22.37 billion (17.5%). Non-operating Expenses (including depreciation and interest paid) totalled MOP4.62 billion, a decrease of 2.9% year-on-year.
Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy grew by 13.6% year-on-year to MOP203.38 billion, the highest value since 2014. Gross Surplus of the sector amounted to MOP181.01 billion, an increase of 14.8% year-on-year; Gross Surplus Ratio went up by 0.6 percentage points to 59.5%, whereas Gross Surplus-Expenditure Ratio (147.0%) rose by 3.8 percentage points. Driven by the completion of large-scale tourism and gaming facilities, as well as the extensive equipment enhancement projects of enterprises, Gross Fixed Capital Formation of the sector in 2018 rebounded by 617.2% to MOP6.80 billion.