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CORRECT: Macau October Gambling Revenue Surges To Record MOP12.7 Billion - Analysts

("Macau October Gambling Revenue Surges To Record MOP12.7B - Analysts" published at 0951 GMT misstated the U.S. dollar conversion figure in the first paragraph. The correct version follows:)

HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- Macau's gambling revenue jumped to a record high MOP12.7 billion (US$1.59 billion) in October from a year earlier, analysts said in several research reports published Wednesday, as an unusually long National Day holiday and China's solid economic recovery boosted gaming demand.

Gambling revenue rose 42% in October from a year earlier, and was 17.6% higher than September's MOP10.8 billion, the research reports said. The Macau government only publishes gaming data once every quarter, and it doesn't comment on monthly statistics reported by the press and analysts.

The National Day holiday, which started Thursday and ended Oct. 8, was the longest ever.

Citigroup analyst Anil Daswani said in a note that it continues to recommend buying Macau casino operators, underpinned by the continued recovery in gambling revenue and increasing visitor arrivals to the former Portuguese enclave, the only place in China where casino gambling is allowed.

Similarly JPMorgan analyst Billy Ng said in a note he believes gaming revenue will continue to be strong for the rest of this year due to a lower comparison base and further improvement in China's economy.

For October, SJM Holdings Ltd. (0880.HK) continued to have the biggest market share of 30.9% among the six casino operators, helped in part by the opening of a new casino in September, according to an analyst who was briefed on the monthly data.

SJM, which is controlled by Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho, saw a 12.4% year- on-year rise in net gaming revenue to MOP3.89 billion.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands' (LVS) net gaming revenue increased 41.4% to MOP3.05 billion, while its market share rose to 24.2% from 19.7%, according to the analyst, who declined to be named.

For Wynn Macau Ltd. (1128.HK), net gaming revenue rose 0.9%, though its market share dropped to 12.3% from 13.8%, the analyst said.

-By Jackie Cheung, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; jackie.cheung@ dowjones.com

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