Wynn Macau Limited, the casino operator controlled by Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts Limited, has reported a third-quarter loss only 40 days after inaugurating its new $4.2 billion Wynn Palace Cotai development.
According to a report from South China Morning Post newspaper, the firm established by billionaire entrepreneur Steve Wynn recorded a net deficit of $8.6 million for the three months to the end of September compared to a profit of $62.1 million for the same period in 2015.
The downbeat figures sent shares in the Hong Kong-listed firm tumbling by as much as 4.66%, which represented their biggest drop in more than nine weeks, despite third-quarter adjusted property earnings before interest, tax and amortization rising by 8% year-on-year to stand at $177 million.
However, Wynn Macau Limited blamed the profit decline on construction work near the Wynn Palace Cotai, which went live on August 22, that hampered the ability of guests to get to the site by bus, automobile or taxi.
“The ramp-up at Wynn Palace Cotai is clearly taking a little longer than we expected,” read a statement from Matthew Maddox, President for Wynn Resorts Limited.
Wynn Palace Cotai is located in the Cotai Strip district of Macau and is close to the $3.1 billion under-construction MGM Casino Cotai from MGM China Holdings Limited, which is the local subsidiary of MGM Resorts International, as well as the still-to-be-completed $3.9 billion Grand Lisboa Palace from SJM Holdings Limited. The area is additionally being affected by the construction of the city’s new light rail transit system with Wynn declaring that the company had held talks with government officials in an attempt to rectify the access problems and a solution is due to be sorted within “the next several months”.
“What we have is an anomalous situation where all four sides of our property are currently being enclosed by either barricades or construction blockades of one kind or another,” said 74-year-old Wynn. “It has tended to isolate our property and has made access to the [Wynn Palace Cotai] temporarily highly encumbered.”