Asia Gaming Brief

The ratings agency expects the operator to hold 40% to 50% of legal online gaming for two years, with the second player at 15% to 20%. It also says the risk of regulatory intervention is "higher in the Philippines than other jurisdictions", cites the e-wallet delinking that cut DigiPlus revenue 23% in a quarter, and flags Senate bills that could ban the product outright. The central bank added a new one today.

Cambodia's prime minister says some licensed casinos "operate from a single shophouse" and contribute little to the economy. The order lands as the regulator drafts renewal criteria and a month before the October deadline to close the online loopholes it found in 195 inspections, 72 of which ended in closure.

Premium volumes have dropped since August, HSBC and UBS both put the first 13 days flat year on year, and CLSA has cut 2027 by 4% with catalysts "not imminent". A week ago Citigroup called September up 12%.

Citigroup expects MOP20.5 billion for the month even though the first six days ran 10% below August's daily rate. Last week CLSA put September growth at 0.3% against a 9.5% consensus. Both are reading the same shoulder month, and the gap between them is the widest of the year.

Prime Minister Hun Manet has ordered a nationwide suspension of live online betting operated from casino premises, with licence revocation for anyone who ignores it. Play resumes only once the government has built the legal and digital controls it says are missing, and the order arrives days after the regulator began drafting a suitability test for licence renewals.

The Commercial Gambling Management Commission is building an integrity and quality evaluation framework that would set minimum conditions for holding a casino licence. It follows a year in which the regulator revoked 20 licences and suspended 29 more over links to online scam operations.

A peer-reviewed survey of 563 employees at six of Macau's integrated resort operators found 33.9% in the severe or extremely severe anxiety band and 16% reporting depression at the same level. The strongest protective factor the researchers identified costs an operator nothing: colleagues who talk to each other.

Gambling duties and casino tax brought the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore S$3.6 billion in the year to March, growing faster than corporate income tax or stamp duty. The report does not separate the casino take from the duties, which limits what can be read into it about Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa.