Wynn Resorts Reports Lower Profit, Revenue as It is Dragged Down by Macau

By Maria Armental 

Wynn Resorts Ltd. on Thursday reported a sharp drop in profit and revenue, dragged down by operations in Macau, commonly referred to as the world's gambling capital.

Gambling revenue in the Chinese semiautonomous territory, the only place in China where gambling is legal, has been on a downward spiral since June 2014, according to figures from Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

The results echo those of Las Vegas Sands Corp., the world's largest casino company by revenue, which last month reported a 35% drop in the December quarter, largely tied to the Macau downturn.

Las Vegas-based Wynn said Thursday that net revenue from its Macau operations fell 27% in the latest period to $555.7 million.

VIP table games turnover, or the sum of all losing rolling chip wagers in the segment, dropped 36.9% to $13 billion. Average daily rates fell 2.7% to $323, while occupancy fell to 96.3% from 98.6% in the year-ago period.

Revenue per available room, a closely watched industry metric, fell 5.2% to $311.

Meanwhile, revenue from its Las Vegas operations rose 3.8% to $391.2 million. Noncasino revenues, before promotional allowances such as free hotel stays, rose 2.7% from the year-before period to $263 million.

Room revenues in Las Vegas rose 6.7% as average daily rates rose 7.7% to $292 and revenue per available room rose 6.8% to $237. Occupancy, meanwhile, declined 1 percentage point to 81.1%.

Over all, Wynn reported a profit of $87.2 million, or 86 cents a share, down from $109.3 million, or $1.07 a share, a year earlier.

Excluding certain items, profit fell to $1.03 cents a share from $1.20 a share a year earlier.

Net revenue fell 17% to $946.9 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected 76 cents a share on $948.4 million in revenue.

Wynn ended the year with about $9.2 billion in debt, including $4.1 billion from Wynn Macau, and $2.3 billion in cash.

In addition to its majority stake in Wynn Macau and its Las Vegas casino, Wynn is developing another casino in Everett, Mass., north of Boston. Its racehorse-Wynn Palace, a $4 billion hotel in Cotai, a strip of reclaimed swampland in Macau that has become prime ground for megadevelopments, is scheduled to open this year.

Wynn's stock, down 61% over the past 12 months, rose 2% to $61 in late trading.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2016 17:48 ET (22:48 GMT)

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