Macau casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd has announced a final dividend for 2024, amounting to HKD0.185 (US$0.0244) per share.
It gave the news in a Thursday statement after Hong Kong Stock Exchange trading hours, and following a board meeting.
“Wynn’s [Macau Ltd] dividend was a pleasant surprise,” said JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd in a Thursday note after the news.
The dividend is payable on June 11, to shareholders registered as of June 2.
The casino firm runs Wynn Macau (pictured) on the city’s peninsula, and Wynn Palace in Macau’s Cotai district.
In its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results, Wynn Macau Ltd said its 12-month operating income grew by 44.4 percent from the previous year to just under US$672.3 million. That was on adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation, and rent (EBITDAR) that rose by 23.2 percent year-on-year to just under US$1.18 billion.
JP Morgan analysts DS Kim and Selina Li wrote that the final dividend brought Wynn Macau Ltd’s full-year dividend per share to HKD0.26, including an interim dividend per share of HKD0.075, “implying a 43 percent payout ratio”.
They added: “Wynn’s (surprisingly) stable market share throughout 2024 supports the view that the best-in-class quality of its assets still resonates well with its core patrons (i.e., high-end and aspirational players) despite pressure from newer/bigger products from peers.”
The JP Morgan team further noted: “This bodes well for Wynn’s sustainable [Macau] edge and earnings power in the long run, in our view.”
