Las Vegas and Boston operations hit Q4 records for Wynn

Wynn Resorts
Image: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock

Performances in Las Vegas and Boston hit a fourth quarter record for Wynn Resorts as the company, overall, reported a slight drop in both Q4 and full year revenue. 

Publishing its fourth quarter and year end 2022 results, operating revenues totalled $1bn for Q4 2022, a decrease of $48.2m the year prior (2021: $1.05bn). Furthermore, net income that was attributable to Wynn Resorts was $32.4m, or $0.29 per diluted share, in the last quarter. 

Looking into its Las Vegas and Boston operations, operating revenues for the fourth quarter increased by $91.6m and $14.4m, respectively. However, performances at Wynn Palace, Wynn Macau and Wynn Interactive differed as all three witnessed decreases of $80.9m, $54.5m and $7.8m respectively. 

The company did see increases in its adjusted property EBITDAR, which totalled $195.1m for the fourth quarter, compared to $149.1m in the same period a year prior. Relating to its Las Vegas operations and Wynn Interactive, these experienced an EBITDAR increase of $33.1m and $51.1m, respectively. 

Yet, there were drops in this area for Wynn Palace, Wynn Macau and Encore Boston Harbor, seeing decreases of $22.5m, $10.7m and $5m, respectively, when compared to Q4, 2021.

“Our teams at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Boston Harbor delivered a new fourth-quarter record for adjusted property EBITDAR at our combined North American properties,” explained Craig Billings, CEO of Wynn Resorts. “For the full year of 2022, these properties generated $1.04bn of Adjusted Property EBITDAR, a record for us by a wide margin. 

“These impressive results are a testament to our team’s relentless focus on delivering five-star hospitality, which continues to elevate our properties above our peers as the destinations of choice for luxury guests in both Las Vegas and Massachusetts.

“In Macau, we were honoured to be awarded with a new 10-year gaming concession during the quarter and were pleased to experience a meaningful return of visitation and demand during the recent Chinese New Year holiday period. We believe we are well-positioned for success in Macau’s next phase of growth.” 

Delving into Wynn Resorts’ current and long-term outstand debt, the figure totalled $12.12bn, which was comprised of $6.19bn of Macau related debt, $2.14bn of Wynn Las Vegas debt, $2.17bn of Wynn Resorts Finance debt and $613.5m of debt held by the retail joint venture. 

In the company’s earning calls, Billings commented on Wynn’s adjusted property EBITDAR stating it was achieved by the team “focusing on what we do best. 

He stated: “Here we are three years into the global pandemic later and Wynn Las Vegas just printed $816m of normalised adjusted property EBITDAR, $816m. I’m confident that this is an all-time record for a stand-alone Las Vegas Strip property. And mind you, we did not deliver this result by nickel and diming on service standards and reducing staff to drive operating leverage. The team did it by focusing on what we do best.

“Great products, great service, great programming, and it showed in our market share and pricing power. The Wynn Las Vegas team absolutely crushed it in 2022. Our business in Vegas is stronger and more relevant than it has ever been. I’ll talk more about the fourth quarter in Vegas in our outlook in a moment.”

Looking more into Wynn Macau’s performance, operating revenues from the property were $77.2m for Q4, 2022, a decrease of $54.5m from the previous year (2021: $131.7m). Moreover, VIP table games win as a percentage of turnover was 1.20 per cent, below the property’s expected range of 3.1 to 3.4 per cent and below the 2.85 per cent experienced in Q4 2021. 

However, in the company’s earning calls, Billings noted that the property has witnessed an increasing number of guests return as the region reopened to travel and tourism and expressed that Wynn Macau is “well-positioned” to lead the post-COVID recovery, pointing to its strengths during the recent Chinese New Year holiday period. 

Billing continued: “In the casino, mass table drop reached 95 per cent of 2019 Chinese New Year levels with strong play across the spectrum from premium mass to core mass. In direct VIP turnover was 40 per cent above pre-COVID Chinese New Year levels.

“And importantly, we estimate that our hold-normalised GGR market share during the month of January was consistent with 2019 levels despite all the changes in the junket environment, defining the expectations of those who continue to incorrectly believe that we are solely a VIP-focused organisation.

“Overall, during the Chinese New Year period, we delivered our strongest EBITDAR performance since the onset of the pandemic, approximately $4m of normalised EBITDAR per day.”

When questioned by Carlo Santarelli, Analyst at Deutsche Bank, about what the firm experienced in Macau during Chinese New Year, Wynn Resort’s Chief Operating Officer, Frederic Luvisutto, noted that it has seen the “resilience” of the business post Chinese New Year. 

He added: “We have seen typically after the post-Chinese New Year in the past, the period does see a slowdown. But we have been very encouraged to see the business remaining very, very strong with mass gaming, direct VIP and retail sales better than previously similar periods in the past.”