New hotel tower, new restaurants, more
Wynn Macau, the U.S.-based resort company’s deluxe property on the Macau peninsula, is redirecting its focus away from VIPs and toward premium mass players, according to Wynn Resorts Ltd. President and CEO Matt Maddox.
“We will be effectively launching a new property at the end of this year for Wynn Macau that is focused squarely on the business that we believe in for the long term, and that is the premium mass,” Maddox said.
“We will be relaunching an entirely new premium-mass casino experience that’s open to the water, three new restaurants, 10,000 square feet of additional retail and a new hotel tower.” According to GGRAsia, the latter was a reference to the existing Encore hotel, now undergoing an extensive renovation.
Wynn Macau Ltd. reported net profit of US$186.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2018, up 4 percent year-on-year. Operating revenues increased 4.3 percent to US$1.29 billion, pulled down by a decrease of US$30.3 million at Wynn Macau, which management said was related to the VIP segment.
In a January 30 earnings call, Maddox called 2018 “a year of transition for our company, and that transition is now over.” It was a turbulent year too, as sexual harassment allegations felled casino legend and company founder Steve Wynn and some of his closest associates.
Wynn is not alone in its deeper appreciation of premium mass players, who bet big but don’t rely on credit from junket operators. The total number of junkets declined 8.3 percent since January 2018. That marks the sixth consecutive year of decline in the number of licensed junkets in the market—from 235 in 2013 to 100 today. That doesn’t mean VIPs are no longer Very Important. In 2018, VIP gross gaming revenues in Macau amounted to MOP166.10 billion (US$20.5 billion), or 54.8 percent of all GGR.
