The under-construction Wynn Al Marjan Island casino resort (pictured in a rendering), in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), could become a “meaningful source of cash” for global casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd, suggested CBRE Equity Research in a Tuesday memo.
U.S.-based Wynn Resorts, parent of Macau casino concessionaire Wynn Macau Ltd, is building the Wynn Al Marjan Island property on an artificial island in Ras Al Khaimah, part of the UAE federation. The site is 50 minutes by road from Dubai International Airport.
On Monday, the casino group announced the topping out of the project, with the hotel tower now on the 70th floor.
Wynn Resorts is a 40-percent equity investor in Wynn Al Marjan Island. The other partners are Marjan LLC and RAK Hospitality Holding LLC. The casino firm will also receive management and licence fees.
“Wynn Al Marjan Island could eventually be the largest payer of fees [to Wynn Resorts], signifying its importance for the equity narrative as it can directly fuel shareholder returns,” wrote analysts Colin Mansfield and Connor Parks in their Tuesday note.
“The licence and management fees should flow directly to the parent entity, bypassing subsidiaries that have their own debt service and capex needs,” they added.
“Therefore, it is 100-percent accretive to Wynn Resorts’ ability to fund shareholder returns,” the analysts stated.
Wynn Resorts has an exclusive, renewable 15-year casino licence for Ras Al Khaimah, and the project could generate gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the range of US$1.00 billion and US$1.66 billion annually. The company assumes a base case scenario of US$1.33 billion GGR annually.
Earlier this month, the casino group reaffirmed the project’s US$5.1-billion budget and the target of opening the complex for the first quarter of 2027. The company said it had spent or “fully bought out” US$3.4 billion, or 66.7 percent, of the total budget for construction.
Wynn Resorts’ base-case financial modelling for Wynn Al Marjan Island anticipates annual adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of at least US$465 million.
The EBITDA forecast assumes that Wynn Resorts would be paid US$160 million as management and licence fees, and that the casino firm would also receive a US$100-million share of the free cash flow generated annually.
According to the CBRE team, the increased diversification of Wynn Resorts’ business and its introduction to a new gaming jurisdiction is “viewed favourably, especially considering the market’s potential”.
“Wynn Al Marjan Island should benefit from being the sole casino licence for multiple years and will cater to an attractive cohort of gaming and non-gaming consumers,” noted the analysts.
Wynn Resorts’ remaining contributions into the Wynn Al Marjan Island project were “manageable at roughly US$525 million to US$625 million,” said Mr Mansfield and Mr Parks.
The casino firm “has contributed US$835 million of equity to-date as of third-quarter 2025, which has been funded without any incremental debt,” the analysts observed.
“As Wynn Al Marjan Island approaches construction completion, contributions rolling off will ease Wynn Resorts’ liquidity needs and the consummation of management fees will be a positive catalyst to consolidated free cash flow,” they added.
