New | Wynn Macau shares rise despite 26.9 per cent drop in fourth quarter operating revenues
Wynn Macau, one of Macau’s largest casino operators listed in Hong Kong, saw its total operating revenues drop 26.9 per cent to US$555.66 million in the three months ended December.
In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday, it said table games turnover in the VIP segment declined 36.9 per cent to US$13 billion for the fourth quarter of 2015 from US$20.7 billion a year ago.
It came at the end of a difficult year for the company, owned by billionaire Steve Wynn, as the corruption crackdown in China continues to be a drain on Macau’s gaming industry.
But despite the large drop, Wynn Macau shares leapt more than 3 per cent by midday on Friday, trading at about HK$7.75, as an analyst said the result was better than expected.
Slot machine revenue for the fourth quarter declined 4.7 per cent year on year to US$1.06 billion.
Total non-casino revenues, before promotional allowances, decreased 21.2 per cent during the quarter to US$75.6 million.
The fall in Macau operations dragged down net revenues of the group, Wynn Resorts, by 16.79 per cent to US$946.9 million for the three months ended December, from US$1.13 billion a year ago.
In October 2015, Wynn unleashed a tirade against Chinese officials for holding up construction on a new US$4.1 billion resort, whose opening date was postponed until June this year.
But Ample Capital asset management director Alex Wong said Wynn Macau’s fourth quarter results, while still a noticeable drop, had been well received by the markets.
“The result is slightly better than expected because of the better win rate... and also the performance in the mass market segment,” he said.
Wong said Macau gaming stocks were proving resilient among the recent market turmoil. “We’re seeing the Hang Seng Index going down thousands of points but Macau stocks holding up quite well... because people reckon recent visits to Macau during Chinese New Year were not too bad,” he said.
Looking forward, Wong said the future of Macau casinos were linked to China’s economy more than any other factor. “If China has a hard landing, Macau will not do so well,” he said.
