Wynn Resorts third-quarter profit declines; revenue flat

Wynn Resort Ltd., the casino company founded by Steve Wynn, said Wednesday that its profit fell almost 12 percent in the third quarter as a debt-related charge increased expenses for the operator of casinos in Las Vegas and Macau.

Wynn Resorts said its net income for the third-quarter was $112 million, or $1.11 per share, compared with $127.1 million, or $1.01 per share, for the same period last year.

Excluding the loss on the extinguishment of debt and other one-time items, the Las Vegas company earned $149.2 million, or $1.48 a share. Analysts polled by Yahoo Finance had expected earnings of $1.34 per share.

Wynn Resorts revenue of $1.3 billion was in line with analysts' expectations.

The company announced an $8 a share special cash dividend, including the 50-cent quarterly dividend payment. Wynn Resorts also said it plans to double the regular quarterly dividend to $1 next year.

Wynn Resorts' Las Vegas revenue rose 11.8 percent to $388 million.

Net casinos revenues at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore were $155.6 million, up 22.6 percent from the third quarter last year.

Table games drop of $682.3 million was up 13.1 percent compared to $630.5 million last year, while the win percentage of 21.9 percent was in the company expected range of 21 percent to 24 percent and above the 18.3 percent reported in the 2011 quarter.

Room revenues were up 1.4 percent to $91 million, compared to $89.7 million last year, Average daily room rate was up 1.9 percent to $244 while occupancy of 85.7 percent was below the 88.3 percent experienced in the third quarter of 2011.

Revenue per available room was $209, a modest 1.2 percent drop from the $212 in the prior year quarter.

Revenue in Macau, which accounted for 72 percent of sales last year, fell 4.3 percent to $910.5 million. Profit in the former Portuguese colony as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 1.3 percent to $292.2 million.

Per-share profit at Wynn Resorts benefited from a drop in shares outstanding. The company seized 24.5 million shares on Feb. 18 held by company co-founder Kazuo Okada after the board of directors concluded he might have broken U.S. anti-bribery laws related to gifts given to Philippine gaming regulators.

In the third quarter, the gaming company had 10.9 shares outstanding compared to 125.9 shares outstanding in the same period last year.

Okada has raised questions about Wynn Resorts' $135 million donation to the University of Macau Development Foundation.

The company is scheduled to have its annual shareholder meeting Nov. 2 in Las Vegas.

Shares of Wynn Resorts lost $2.09, or 1.82 percent, to $112.29. In extended trading Wednesday, the company's shares rose $3.90, or 3.47 percent, to $116.19.

Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at csieroty@review
journal.com or 702-477-3893.