Wynn receives vote of confidence; Rivers Casino gets a ‘best’

Account holders and investors in Dore Entertainment are evidently out of patience waiting to be reimbursed for the reported theft of $43 million from the VIP room operator. WynnInstead, they’re suing Wynn Macau, saying “as a gaming concessionaire, [it] should be held responsible for Dore’s conduct on the basis that Wynn Resorts Macau is responsible for the supervision of Dore’s activities at Wynn Macau that resulted in the purported losses,” according to the company itself. It added that “the plaintiffs of the lawsuits allege that Dore failed to honour withdrawal of funds requests that allegedly has resulted in certain losses for these individuals.” Wynn holds that the lawsuit is without merit. (Big surprise, no?)

But Steve Wynn got some good news in the form of an investor note from Telsey Advisory Group. “We believe the opening should be a positive event for the company and its targets are achievable,” wrote analysts David Katz and Brian Davis, swimming against the tide of bankers’ sentiment. Calling Wynn Macau shares undervalued, the duo wrote, “We do not believe that the table allocation for the Palace is a significant surprise and a major negative for the story and had been contemplated by the company previously. First, the low utilisation rates currently in the market, particularly in VIP, and which are expected to move lower at [Wynn Macau] support the view that there is a cost reduction benefit to the lower table count. Second, we believe that the primary driver of revenue and profit growth in the market at present is visitation and spend per visitor rather than the supply of tables.”

What Wynn won’t be doing is continuing its association with Dore. For Wynn Palace, it will turn for VIP junkets to Suncity Group, which scored a hat-trick this week, securing VIP rooms at Parisian and Studio City Macau, in addition to Wynn. The arrangements will not be exclusive (at least not at Studio City) but they indicate continued faith by Sands China, Melco Crown Entertainment and Wynn that a turnaround in VIP play is just around the corner.

* Citing a few, rather uninspiring metrics, stock-picker Greg Guenthner concedes the Macao market is “stagnant. But that’s about to change.” Unfortunately, his logic for going all-in on domestic and overseas casino stocks boils down to ‘things can’t get worse, so they must be about to get better.’ Yes, and a stopped watch is right twice a day.

* Congratulations to Rivers Casino for being named one of Pittsburgh‘s top workplaces two years running. Management recognizes employees’ contribution with benefits that include holiday hams and turkeys, tuition reimbursement and free massages. As General Manager Craig Clark says of worker gratification, “It’s not always monetary. It’s a work-life balance.” His employer, Rush Street Gaming gets it and we hope that other gaming companies are taking note, especially when Rivers Casino’s worker-turnover rate is 20%, compared to a hospitality-industry average of 30%.

* A Gulfport site that was the object of years of futile development efforts by Rotate Black is now a ‘go’ project for Gulfport Gaming Development, owner of Natchez‘s Magnolia Bluffs Casino-Hotel. GGD must build a 40,000-square-foot casino with at least 300 hotel rooms to meet regulatory requirements, which it hopes to do for the thrifty sum of $140 million. Beyond the obvious (tax revenues), Gulfport will be the beneficiary of the deal, as it owns the land on which GGD will build and lease payments will enrich city coffers to the tune of $960,000 a year for 60 years (which renewal options of up to 30 years).

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