Wynn Macau Ltd says it welcomed a number of former junket players back to its Macau properties over Chinese New Year, helping push VIP segment turnover up to 88% of 2019 levels during the holiday period.
The encouraging feedback follows a recent crackdown by Macau authorities on Macau’s once dominant junket business with the arrest of Suncity Group CEO Alvin Chau in late November and of Tak Chun Group’s Levo Chan late last month. Suncity has since confirmed the cessation of its junket business while recently announced amendments to Macau’s gaming law include a series of measures aimed at heightening junket regulation.
With those headwinds looming large, Wynn Macau told analysts during its 4Q21 earnings call on Wednesday morning (Asia time) that daily VIP turnover via the company’s VIP direct program during CNY was 175% higher than during the same period in 2021 and just 12% lower than in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mass table drop was 34% higher than 2021 although still 40% lower than in 2019.
“Encouragingly we are seeing strong spend per customer and significant new customer sign-ups in our direct business,” said Craig Billings, CEO of both Wynn Macau and its parent Wynn Resorts. “As we’ve seen before, when Macau is more accessible demand snaps right back.”
Asked how Wynn was pivoting given the recent turmoil within Macau’s VIP industry, Billings said the situation is still evolving but that it was “not surprising we saw activity on the direct side of the business over the course of CNY.
“Some of those were former junket players, indicating there has been movement among the different groups of players with junket to premium mass and junket to direct,” he explained. “The use of agents and the use of referring parties is all happening in real time so we are exploring all potential options in the market that are consistent with the amended gaming law and we will figure it out in due course.”
Wynn Macau President and Executive Director, Ian Michael Coughlan, said the disappearance of junket operators was still a very recent development, making any comprehensive assessment of its impact difficult to judge.
“The only way we can really judge the impact is over CNY when we saw meaningful rolls in both premium mass and our own direct VIP program,” he said.
“We have seen that migration of former junket players. They have the desire to gamble, they have the desire to come to Macau. We have the best product and service so we feel very confident we will capture more than our fair share of market share.”
As reported by Inside Asian Gaming, Wynn Macau Ltd saw its operating loss widen to US$128.2 million in the three months to 31 December 2021, largely due to significant declines in volume in its VIP business.
