JP Morgan Securities LLC forecasts that the Macau operations of casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd will produce property-level earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$1.20 billion for full-year 2024. That would represent a year-on-year increase of 26.4 percent, according to the brokerage’s estimates.
The forecast was featured in a note issued on Wednesday by JP Morgan. The latest property EBITDA estimate for full-2024 was an upward revision by 5.3 percent on JP Morgan’s previous forecast.
Analysts Joseph Greff, Ryan Lambert, and Samuel Nielsen said they were upping their forecast eliminating some of their “prior conservatism” regarding the Macau market. They added that, in the case of Wynn Resorts’ Macau operations, a higher fourth-quarter base would have a positive impact on 2024 growth measured sequentially.
In Macau, the Wynn Resorts group runs – via subsidiary Wynn Macau Ltd – the Wynn Macau casino resort on the city’s peninsula, and Wynn Palace (pictured) on Cotai.
JP Morgan said it expected the Macau operations of Wynn Resorts to have produced property-level EBITDA of US$291 million in the three months to December 31, a sequential improvement of 14.1 percent. That EBITDA figure represented an increase of 4.7 percent compared to the brokerage’s prior estimate.
“We don’t think this is a best-case scenario,” the team of analysts cautioned. “If we were to assume gross gaming revenue (GGR) market share consistent with the third quarter of 2023 of 14 percent, then our Wynn Macau GGR would be higher; as well, we have margins up just modestly on a quarter-to-quarter basis… which is similarly conservative given a sequential uptick in higher margin retail revenues.”
The casino operator is scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter results on February 7 (U.S. time).
Earlier this week, Fitch Ratings Inc assigned “a first-time” ‘BB-’ issuer default rating to Wynn Resorts and a number of its subsidiaries, including Wynn Macau Ltd. The group’s rating outlook is “stable”, stated the institution in a note published on Tuesday.
