According to reports, the president of U.S. casino operator Wynn Resorts Limited explained that the company is spending $2.6 million daily due to the temporary closure of his company’s two Macau properties.
The Las Vegas-based company is responsible through the local subsidiaries of 1,000-room Win Macau Limited and the grander Win Palace Co-Tai. Both sites were closed for 15 days starting Tuesday as part of a citywide plan designed to stop the spread of the highly contagious “Wuhan virus.”
Matt Maddox serves as president and chief executive officer of Wynn Resorts Limited, which declared Thursday in a conference call with investors that the Macau shutdown was ‘punishing the company about $2.4 million to $2.6 million a day’. The manager also reportedly declared that the majority of this amount, about $1.9 million, ‘consists of salaries for 12,200 employees,’ although the operator was ‘not considering any reduction.’
“Now is the time for you to invest in your people. You don’t do anything short-term that will hurt culture and distract you. We know this is going to be temporary and I think it’s the right long-term investment.”
Wynn Macau Limited has imposed a “controlled and organized” closure of properties in Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace Kotai and said it is ‘a little early’ to predict when operations will return to normal as local governments could still extend their current closures amid the worsening spread of the coronavirus variant.
“We are still opening a hotel and a few restaurants for a few customers who remain in Macau. Teams on the ground are working with the government every day and are watching very carefully to see if the virus continues to break out. We feel good about the long-term aspect of Macau as soon as the virus is completely contained.”
Maddox reportedly had daily normal earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of about $4 million for 19 days from Dec. 23, saying the company’s Macau business was ‘well prepared for 2020’ before the outbreak of the ‘Wuhan virus’. He previously detailed that the company posted a loss of $72.9 million in the fourth quarter, with total revenue down 2% year-over-year to just over $1.6 billion.