Macau:3Q wrap,Margin surprise bodes well for 2018
A good quarter: VIP pumping while margins rising
On the back of 7% qoq GGR growth, Macau's 6operators grew industry EBITDAby 11% qoq in 3Q17. A big surprise from the 3Q17earnings season is marginexpansion. Originally, the market was worried that strong VIP growth would dragmargins as VIP margin is much lower than mass margin. As it turned out, industryEBITDA margin actually rose 90bps qoq to 22.8% in 3Q17, as the negativeimpact from mix shift was more than offset by a disciplined cost environmentand operating leverage. This should give confidence to the Street to lift marginfor 2018. Reiterate Wynn Macau (Buy) as our Top pick where our 2018EBITDAforecast is 8% above consensus.