Wynn Delays Opening Of New Macau Casino

A $4.1 billion casino project from Wynn Resorts in Macau will open in June of next year rather than in March, the company said this week.

The company said that construction issues are the reason for the three-month delay, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Wynn already has one casino in the former Portuguese colony, the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. That casino generated 70 percent of the company’s revenue in 2014.

Macau’s casino industry has been slumping for the past 17 months, but the market appears to be stabilizing. Gaming win in Macau fell 28.4 percent to roughly $2.5 billion in October, compared to the previous year, but the silver lining is that it was the first month since January when gaming revenue fell less than 30 percent. So far in 2015, gaming revenue is down roughly 36 percent. Gaming revenue in 2014 was $44 billion.

Though the company didn’t say Macau gaming policies were part of the reason why the new Wynn Palace Cotai will open later than expected, Steve Wynn did recently blast Macau for putting a table game cap on new properties. Even though he’s optimistic about Macau in the long-term, Wynn said in a third quarter earnings call that planning a new casino there is “almost a mystical process.”

“Here in America we would never have a Las Vegas of the diversity we’ve had if the city had told us how many tables we could spread,” Wynn said. “The table cap is the single most counterintuitive and irrational decision that was ever made.”

Macau and the Chinese government want the gambling hub to depend less on high rollers than it has in the past. Beijing has been encouraging new casinos to feature more non-gaming amenities. Wynn stressed that gambling is what makes a casino profitable, though.

The VIP gambling segment once accounted for 70 percent of Macau gaming revenue. High rollers account for about 50 percent of the city’s gaming revenue these days, thanks to mainland China placing greater scrutiny on the extending of credit to gamblers, which happens through junket operators. China thinks the junket industry has some corruption.

Two new casinos have opened this year, one from Melco Crown Entertainment and one from Galaxy Entertainment Group. Roughly $20 billion has been invested into Macau by major casino operators despite the recent downturn.

Macau is going through a big transition and its top gaming regulator recently announced his retirement. Just days ago, Macau named a replacement.

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