2019 might not be as spectacular for Melco Resorts and Entertainment as was 2018, but it should still be a good year. This is according to the company’s chairman and CEO, who issued a statement yesterday during a company event, Melco Women’s Forum. He indicated that Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) will see “decent growth” this year and that Melco should experience an uptick, as well.

Ho acknowledged that the GGR growth of last year was a little abnormal, stating, “Look, it is not going to be as great as 2018 – 2018 blew everybody’s expectation at a 14-percent growth.” The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau had indicated that full-year GGR last year reached almost $37.57 billion.

So far in 2019, there has been a little dip in Macau’s aggregate GGR. This comes in spite of a 4.4% uptick in February that resulted from an active Chinese New Year holiday period.

Ho added, “For us as a company, Melco, we care more about the underlying cash flow and EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation], and I think the quality of the cash flow is better now then it’s ever been.” He identified premium-mass and mass segments as being the most likely catalysts for any improvement.