Wynn sees revenue up in Q1 as it pursues UAE project; seeks opportunities in New York and iGaming

Developer and operator Wynn Resorts has shared its financial results for the first quarter of the year. For the period, the company delivered record first-quarter cash flow in Las Vegas and Boston and total revenue of $953.3 million, up 29.4% from the comparable period last year, despite ongoing headwinds in the Macau segment. The business has also updated its UAE project and the state of its iGaming division.

The company has managed to lower net income losses, posting a $183.3 million loss, which was down from $281 million in Q1 2021. Meanwhile, Adjusted Property EBITDA was $177.6 million, up more than double from $58.9 million in the first quarter of the past year.

"Our first-quarter results reflect continued strength at both Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Boston Harbor where our teams' unrelenting focus on five-star hospitality and world-class experiences combined with very strong customer demand to deliver a new first-quarter record for Adjusted Property EBITDA at both properties," said Craig Billings, CEO of Wynn Resorts, Limited. 

As for the company’s Macau operations, which continued to be negatively impacted during the quarter by certain travel-related restrictions and conditions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, Billings said the company remains confident that the market will benefit from a return of guests “when travel restrictions subside.”

Wynn Las Vegas

While the year started slow for the company, amid the spread of the omicron variant in January, results gradually improved in the rest of the quarter, seeing a momentum that has now continued into the year’s second quarter.

“We actually hit 91% hotel occupancy in March, which contributed to an all-time record cash flow result during the month,” Billings said in an earnings call with investors on Tuesday, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We’re seeing no signs of a slowdown.”

Wynn is now seeing investments in its Las Vegas properties, carried out during some of the roughest times of the Covid-19 pandemic, pay off. The good results are in line with the general Las Vegas market rebound, which has led operators to start 2022 on the right foot. 

“We certainly have been a beneficiary of that,” Billings said, according to the cited source. “We’re also benefiting from our own efforts over the past few years. Even during difficult times, we invested in our people and our product. We opened Delilah (a restaurant). We completed a refresh of the lounges adjacent to the Lake of Dreams. We opened Casa Playa (another restaurant) and we remodeled the Wynn tower rooms.”

Wynn's Encore Boston Harbor

But the company also has more investments in mind, including a resort planned in the United Arab Emirates. The company announced a multibillion-dollar integrated resort development on the man-made Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah in January, and has now updated investors on that front.

“We’ve moved quickly into design on our project in the UAE and I grow more excited about the opportunity with each iteration of that design,” the CEO commented, as reported by Review-Journal. “The island, which is really a blank canvas for us, presents amazing opportunities to do what we do best.”

The company plans large-scale water and light spectacles “akin to the Lake of Dreams in Las Vegas” and a room product “that takes advantage of the unique aspects of the site,” according to Billings. But the business is also eyeing opportunities in its home market of the US, more specifically New York, where Wynn is interested in developing a casino.

Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah

“We’re interested in any gateway city that is conducive to the scale and quality of development that Wynn Resorts does, so we are interested in New York and we’re active there,” the executive explained, although he said the company is not “in a position yet to talk about anything in particular.”

Billings also discussed the company’s online gaming division, Wynn Interactive, and stated the business is still committed to iGaming efforts despite January rumors of a discount sale. Reports at the time indicated Wynn was looking to sell the division at an asking price of $500 million, down from a $3 billion valuation less than a year ago.

“We’ve been pleased with the business over the course of the quarter,” Wynn’s CEO said about the interactive division, adding that the company believes “in the industry longer term.” He further remarked revenue for the segment in Q1 2022 was higher than in 2021.

As the Massachusetts Senate passed a sports betting bill last month, paving the way to a legal market opening in the future, Billings confirmed the company would be pursuing an opportunity in the state. “We’re preparing to be there on day one,” he stated.