GGRAsia – Wynn Macau posts US$154mln 1Q loss amid pandemic

Wynn Macau posts US$154mln 1Q loss amid pandemic

May 07, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Macau casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd reported on Thursday a nearly US$154.2-million net loss in the first quarter of 2020, compared to a US$190.6-million profit in the equivalent quarter a year earlier. The results were published following the parent company’s – U.S.-based Wynn Resorts Ltd – first-quarter report on Wednesday.

The results in Macau came amid widespread disruption to casino operations around the world due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Macau market had a 15-day shutdown during the quarter.

The Wynn group’s Macau adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) remained in positive territory however for the first three months of 2020. The tally of just under US$29.4 million was 92.4 percent down on the nearly US$386.5 million reported a year earlier.

Wynn Macau Ltd runs Wynn Macau (pictured) on the city’s peninsula and Wynn Palace in the Cotai district.

The group as a whole – which also runs Wynn Las Vegas in Nevada and Encore Boston Harbor in Massachusetts in the U.S. – swung to a quarterly net loss of US$402 million, compared to net income of just under US$104.9 million a year earlier. Wynn Resorts reported group-wide negative adjusted EBITDA of just under US$5.33 million, compared with US$494.78 million a year earlier

The parent said on Wednesday that it had suspended its quarterly dividend programme “due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic”.

First-quarter operating revenues from Wynn Palace were US$259.5 million for the first quarter of 2020, a 64.3 percent decrease from the US$726.6 million recorded for the first three months of 2019.

Wynn Palace adjusted property EBITDA was just under US$10.2 million for the first quarter of 2020, a 95.4 percent decrease from the nearly US$222.6 million reported in first-quarter 2019.

VIP table games win as a percentage of turnover was 2.91 percent, within the property’s expected range of 2.7 percent to 3.0 percent and below the 3.91 percent experienced in the first quarter last year.

Table games win percentage in mass market operations at the property was 27.5 percent, above the 24.2 percent experienced in the first quarter of 2019.

Operating revenues from the Wynn Macau property were just under US$229.5 million for the first quarter of 2020, a 56.2 percent decrease from the nearly US$523.9 million in the prior-year quarter.

The Wynn Macau venue’s adjusted property EBITDA was US$19.2 million for the first quarter of 2020, an 88.3 percent decrease from the nearly US$163.9 million for the first quarter of 2019.

VIP table games win as a percentage of turnover at the property was 4.14 percent, above the 2.90 percent experienced in the first quarter of 2019.

Table games win percentage in mass market operations was 20.4 percent, slightly above the 19.6 percent experienced in the first quarter of 2019.

Social distancing to continue

Wynn Macau Ltd said first-quarter casino revenue stood at US$397.70 million, down 62.9 percent from the prior-year period. Wynn Palace saw its gaming revenue decline 66.7 percent year-on-year, to nearly US$207.58 million. VIP turnover was down 62.0 percent to US$4.79 billion, while mass-market table drop fell 63.6 percent to US$475.22 million.

At Wynn Macau, casino revenue fell 57.8 percent in year-on-year terms, to just under US$190.13 million. VIP turnover declined 70.9 percent, to US$2.96 billion, while mass-market table drop stood at nearly US$578.24 million, down 57.2 percent from a year earlier.

The group mentioned in commentary on its first-quarter Macau performance that its casino operations in the city had been “fully restored” following a 15-day shutdown in February under Macau emergency measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 infection associated with the novel coronavirus.

But the firm noted: “Certain public health safeguards, such as traveller quarantines; limiting the number of seats per table game; slot machine spacing; [customer] temperature checks; mask protection [for staff and customers]; and health declarations remain in effect at the present time.”

The group added: “We are currently unable to determine when these measures will be lifted.”

The Wynn group’s “cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash” stood at US$2.89 billion as of March 31.

Total current and long-term debt outstanding at March 31 was US$11.37 billion, comprised of US$5.15-billion of Macau-related debt, US$3.11-billion of Wynn Las Vegas debt, US$2.50-billion of Wynn Resorts Finance debt, and US$611.9-million of debt held by a retail joint venture.

JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd said in a Thursday note: “Wynn Macau had US$1.8 billion of available liquidity as of end-April. As discussed previously, daily operating expenses’ burn is US$2.4 million to US$2.6 million per day,” or US$3.0-million per day including interest expenses. This suggested “the company’s liquidity is enough to weather through 1.5-plus years of zero revenue,” added analysts DS Kim, Derek Choi and Jeremy An.

Andrew Lee of Jefferies Hong Kong Ltd said in a Wednesday memo, Wynn Macau’s first-quarter numbers were “weak but expected,” given the 15-day market closure in February and that fellow Macau operators Sands China Ltd and MGM China Holdings Ltd had “already announced weak results”.

The Wynn Macau property’s adjusted EBITDA had been “ahead of consensus” stated a Wednesday note from Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd analysts Vitaly Umansky, Eunice Lee and Kelsey Zhu.