HONG KONG : Macau is driving the Asian gaming sector's comeback after it was dented by the global financial crisis last year, international credit ratings agency Moody's said in a report Monday.

Moody's boosted its outlook for the industry to stable from negative as Asian casino operators report rising gambling revenue.

"We expect the current stabilising trend in Asia Pacific's gaming sector to continue as the region's economies recover, led by strong growth in China," the Moody's report said.

"Unlike in the US, Asia Pacific's gaming firms have bounced back from an earlier slowdown, with Macau recording three straight months of year-on-year growth in gambling receipts," it said.

Macau operators have benefited from a loosening in travel restrictions for mainland Chinese visitors -- the territory's 'lifeblood' -- and a limited number of new venues, the report said.

Casinos in Australia and Malaysia also made it through the economic crisis intact, the report noted.

The rosy forecast comes as US gaming giant Las Vegas Sands launches a
3.4-billion-US-dollar share sale in Hong Kong Monday to pay down debt and restart a Macau project stalled last year by the slumping economy.

Casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group said a week ago that it also planned to complete a delayed 1.8-billion-US-dollar flagship resort in Macau, the only Chinese city that allows casino gambling.

The former Portuguese colony has leapfrogged Las Vegas in gaming revenue after opening up its market to overseas operators in 2002.

- AFP/ir