Casino magnate Steve Wynn continued to hit a gold mine in Macau after his gambling facilities in the former Portuguese enclave helped Wynn Resorts Ltd. triple its profit in the fourth quarter of 2017.
In a regulatory filing on Monday, Wynn announced that its net revenues jumped 29.9 percent to $1.69 billion in the last three months of 2017 compared to $1.30 billion recorded in the same period in 2016.
Shares of Wynn Resorts and other casino giants such as Las Vegas Sands (LVS) rallied after the announcement, hitting multi-year highs.
The casino operator attributed the better-than-expected results to the performance of Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace, which partially offset the lackluster performance of Wynn’s Las Vegas operations.
Wynn Macau reported net revenue of $618.6 million in Q4, up 24.1 percent year-on-year, while its adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the period was $186 million.
Wynn Palace’s net revenue grew by 65.6 percent to $693.4 million. Adjusted property EBITDA was US$190.1 million, a 145.3 percent increase from the prior-year period.
Net revenues of Wynn’s Las Vegas operations slipped 1.6 percent to $377 million, while adjusted EBITDA fell 9.2 percent to $104.1 million.
The casino operator basically had a great 2017 as its full-year net revenue soared 41.2 percent to $6.31 billion from $4.47 billion in 2016.
“We’ve always been bullish about Macau. The Wall Street and the investment community has had different moods about this,” Steve Wynn said during his earnings call. “And I don’t blame people for having a little trouble getting long-term views on China back in 2002, but I think the picture is pretty clear today.”
Going forward, Wynn expressed confidence that his casino business in Macau would continue after the gaming licenses of Macau’s six operators start to expire from 2020. Wynn’s optimism was driven by the result of their conversations with the Chinese government, which includes plans to expand Wynn Palace.
The casino magnate also bared his plan to construct a fourth hotel in Las Vegas as vote of confidence in the gaming jurisdiction that is still coping from the October 1 mass shooting.
