Wynn Resorts announced a 42 percent decrease in operating income for the first quarter of 2020, Wednesday, citing the continuing impact of coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement, the company disclosed it has spent over $56.4 million on paying wages, tips and benefits to its 15,000 Las Vegas workers while the businesses remain closed.
Chief executive officer Matt Maddox announced Wednesday that these payments would be extended to May 31, for a total of 75 days of continuity of payroll. Wynn stated that it estimates to spend almost $250 million on payroll.
In after hours trading on Wednesday, Wynn Resorts Ltd. shares dropped 2.8 percent after the company announced a first-quarter deficit of about half a billion dollars in the midst of declining sales.
Wynn posted a first-quarter net loss attributable to stakeholders of $402 million, which amounts to $3.77 per share, against a year earlier net profit of $104.9 million, or 98 cents.
Adjusted for land costs and non-controlling interests, the losses were $3.54 a share, among other things. Revenue dropped to $953.7 million in the year-ago period, down from $1.65 billion.
The company temporarily shuttered its two Las Vegas Strip locations and Encore Boston Harbor in mid-March, after grappling with a 15-day closure of gaming assets in Macau - Wynn's most significant market.
Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace have since reopened, but the operator's trio of integrated resorts in the US remains shut down, meaning that it lost sales worth over a month in either the Macau or the US during the first quarter this year.
In a statement, Maddox said their leadership team worked side by side with host communities, fellow industry leaders and world-class medical experts to identify and execute measures to minimize the effects of the virus on their team members, guests and local communities.
The company said it plans to continue paying wages and benefits to its staff members through May, and in April developed a proposal to reopen its casinos and resorts with new safety measures. As of March 31 Wynn said it had cash amounting to $2.89 billion.
Wynn was burning about $2.5 million a day during the closure of Macau in February, but Maddox noted that when the shutdown ended late that month, the burn rate was cut to $800,000 a day.
While the company believes its balance sheet to be solid, chief financial officer Craig Billings said the company is temporarily suspending its dividend on the call, joining a slew of rivals in doing so, a step that will save $100 million per year.
