Wynn Resorts Ltd. has reported second-quarter net income of $122m, more than doubling the $52.4m it recorded in the same period last year. Revenue rose to $1.37b, up from $1.03b in 2010, handily beating analysts’ forecasts. Revenue at Wynn’s two Macau properties, which account for over 70% of Wynn’s overall business, was up 37% to $976.5m. However, net profit in Macau fell 9.2% due to a $107m charge stemming from a charitable contribution to the University of Macau Development Foundation.
Business at Wynn’s two Las Vegas properties was up 23%, principally on the strength of non-gaming revenue, lending credence to the signs of life recently reported by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Speaking on a call to investors, CEO Steve Wynn credited the boost to international visitors, “mainly Asians, mainly Chinese people” who “come to the United States and they leave their money here. They are generous and tasteful. They shop for fine products. They eat good food. They tip well. They create job opportunities here.”
But these free-spending Asians can only create such opportunities “if they can get through Homeland Security without too much misery.” Steve was eager to lay the blame for such misery at the door of US President Barack Obama. “This administration is the greatest wet blanket to business and progress and job creation in my lifetime … Those of us who have business opportunities and the capital to do it are going to sit in fear of the President … It’s Obama that’s responsible for this fear in America … The business community in this country is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States. And until he’s gone, everybody’s going to be sitting on their thumbs.”
Such anti-Obama ranting would be warmly welcomed by Tea Party members, but at least some Tea Partiers may not be all that welcome in Las Vegas. The Tea Party Nation Corporation of Franklin, Tenn. has been sued by the Venetian Casino Resort LLC after the group cancelled an anti-Obama hootenanny scheduled for last year at the Palazzo due to lack of interest. The Venetian claims the Tea Party Nation owes $642k for reserving 1,637 room nights, but the Tennesseans (like their hero Ronald Reagan) apparently believe deficits don’t matter. The irony is that the Palazzo is run by Las Vegas Sands Corp., whose CEO Sheldon Adelson is a staunch Republican backer, and thus presumably quite sympathetic to the Tea Partiers’ political sentiments. But we don’t care what your political orientation – nobody puts their hand in Sheldon’s pocket and survives unscathed.
