With the recent news that Macau’s money machine has yet to run out of ink, casino operators saw their numbers tick upward as the investing herds stampeded to their brokers with ‘buy’ orders. The gaming hub’s 42% year-on-year revenue rise topped analysts predictions, sending Wynn Resorts’s stock up 4%, Las Vegas Sands up 3.1%, MGM Resorts up 2.1%, and Melco Crown gained 3.2%.
Speaking of Steve Wynn, he just unloaded his 5,600 sq. ft. penthouse atop New York’s Plaza Hotel. Wynn had only just acquired the property a few months back, and the $24.4m selling price is $1m more than Steve paid for it, but after transfer taxes, commission et al, Steve will apparently be lucky to break even. What are the odds Steve blames this sad fact on Obama?
Cherryföretagen recently posted its Q3 results, and the Swedish gaming concern reported a 56% rise in group turnover and a stellar 153% increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Malta-licensed sports betting outfit Betbull, in which Bwin holds a 37% stake, saw its Q3 net profit decline from €26.9m in 2009 to just €8.7m this year. The Vienna Stock Exchange-listed company lost €1.9m in the first nine months of 2010, but that’s an improvement over the €3M it lost over the same period a year ago.
Finally, despite Betfair’s protestations that they’re not bothered by stock analysts who claim their share price is overvalued, the market’s faith in the company seemed a little more tentative. After both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs – the firms that brought Betfair to market – gave the betting exchange tepid reviews (citing the omnipresent threat of ‘regulatory risk’), the stock dropped 8%, albeit on light volumes. The stock rallied somewhat to close at 1223p, but that’s still down substantially from its £13 float price. At this rate, who needs that Ferrari World rollercoaster – just buy Betfair stock and enjoy the ride!
