Wynn Macau Ltd is confident it will claim more market share in the premium mass segment this year than it has held in the past, boosted by the return of some “bigger players” during the upcoming Chinese New Year period.
Despite experiencing more subdued volumes across all gaming segments in January – the result of COVID-19 outbreaks across mainland China and resulting travel restrictions – Wynn executives were overwhelmingly positive about the company’s prospects during a 4Q20 earnings call Friday morning.
And they were particularly buoyant about the Chinese New Year period, with Wynn well positioned to claim more market share according to Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox.
“There is a real sense of optimism when you talk to people in China – they are really ready to travel and go to Macau – and we are very well positioned for that customer,” Maddox said.
“That is the premium segment, which did better than the core mass segment [in 4Q20]. It was not down 50% like our core mass segment was, but we do not need 50,000 people a day walking through our facilities. We need significantly less people because we cater to the higher end customer and those are the ones that will come back first.
“We’re targeting that segment and we think we are going to get more market share in the premium mass segment than we have in the past.”
While the recent outbreaks in China have disrupted Macau’s Chinese New Year booking cycle, Wynn Macau Ltd President and Executive Director Ian Coughlan said there was still significant player interest for Wynn’s properties – Wynn Palace and Wynn Macau.
“We have a lot of our bigger players reserving villas and they will potentially travel,” Coughlan said.
“Demand is out there and we are priming our properties to take full advantage of that. We command the luxury sector and we believe that we are ready to take more than our fair market share. In Q4 we built our market share to nearly 16% and we believe there is more market share for us to take, particularly because we command the luxury sector and those are the customers that are coming back.”
The Wynn team also revealed that VIP play in December had returned to 35% of 2019 levels, primarily through the company’s premium direct program, with Maddox flagging a gradual shift away from the junket model.
“I do think there will be significantly less VIP players as junkets fall out and consolidate but there will still be very large VIP players and our focus is on that direct business and the very high end, as opposed to having lots of junket operators,” he said. “It’s really about the premium VIP segment.”
