GGRAsia – Wynn Macau Ltd board to consider semi-annual dividend

Wynn Macau Ltd board to consider semi-annual dividend

May 31, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd says its board approved on Thursday amendments to the company’s existing dividend policy, with immediate effect.

According to the amended dividend policy, the firm’s board “shall meet semi-annually to consider the declaration of dividends,” stated a filing that day to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The company’s board “may also meet at any time during the year as the board deems fit to consider the declaration of special dividends,” it added.

Wynn Macau Ltd said it “does not have any pre-determined dividend payout ratio”.

The casino operator explained that when considering the declaration and payment of dividends, its board would take into consideration, among other factors, “the group’s past financial results and the level of distributable reserves, past and forecasted cash flows and liquidity position,” as well as “capital requirements and expenditure plans”.

Wynn Macau Ltd operates the Wynn Palace resort (pictured) on Cotai, and also runs the Wynn Macau resort on the city’s peninsula. The company is a unit of U.S.-based casino developer Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Wynn Macau Ltd recorded first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation, and rent (EBITDAR) of just under US$339.6 million, 14.3-percent higher sequentially, and up 118.0 percent from the prior-year period.

Wynn Macau Ltd resumed this year a dividend payment, announcing in March a 2023 final dividend of HKD0.075 (US$0.01) per share, payable on June 19.

In a separate filing on Thursday, Wynn Macau Ltd said its shareholders approved the payment of the 2023 final dividend during the firm’s annual general meeting that day.

The company also said that its president Linda Chen has been re-elected as an executive director of the board. Craig Billings, the chief executive of the parent Wynn Resorts, has also been re-elected as an executive director of Wynn Macau Ltd.

Seaport Research Partners said in a Thursday memo that the Macau operations delivered “strong first-quarter results” for Wynn Resorts. The institution initiated in April coverage on Macau’s six casino operators, as well as the United States-based parents of three of them, namely Las Vegas Sands Corp; MGM Resorts International; and Wynn Resorts.

“We upgrade Wynn [Resorts] to a buy, due to underperformance over the last month and a half that is unwarranted in light of stronger than expected performance in Macau (especially at the Wynn Macau property),” wrote analyst Vitaly Umansky.

Mr Umansky said the institution expects the Wynn group to “gain share” in the Macau market this year.

It cautioned however that the group “will likely lose share in 2025 as other newer properties ramp up, base mass visitation increases (where Wynn has less advantage), and other operators focus efforts on premium customers with new larger scale product”.

“The critical drivers for Wynn in Macau over the next one to two years will be to take premium gaming market share while building out base mass marketing and capability to drive more mid-week and walk in traffic into its properties,” he added.