Wynn speaks … and speaks

With a dustup with George Clooney still making headlines and a quarterly reporting emerging, Steve Wynn could be expected to be in an expansive mood. He did not disappoint. Ironically, Wynn’s comments about people who “live in a very strange bubble of their own. They are molly-coddled they are highly privileged. We are talking about successful artists,” could apply very well to Steve himself. Wynn’s had his share of out-of-touch moments in the past, such as telling dealers that if losing $10,000 in tips a year affected their living standard they weren’t managing their money right. But enough of that.

(In one of Wynn’s Bloomberg sound bites his attempt to invoke Alexis de Toqueville goes sadly awry when he has de Toqueville opining in 1909 — 50 years after de Toqueville’s death … although how many other casino owners would reach for a classical reference?)

For all his love of Macao, Wynn say that he was “feeling good about Las Vegas, better than I had in the past … I see Las Vegas getting a footing that it hasn’t in the past.” This despite a 1.5% decline in revenue at his Strip properties and the predominance of Macao (75%) in his portfolio. But room rates were up 6% and RevPAR rose 13% — not bad when you have some of the highest price points in town. He said the Las Vegas Strip was “growing into” the capacity it added by building Encore and CityCenter.

Macao was more than doing its part, growing revenues 14% on robust mass-market play. Cash flow grew 16%, far surpassing Wall Street‘s consensus projection. Correspondingly, the casino  is adding mass-market tables for cash play, to decrease its reliance on costly VIP junkteers and their risky credit. That’s brave restraint, considering that VIPs wager $1 million-plus, on average, per visit. Wynn Macau President Gamal Aziz got in a dig at the competition, saying that “at some of the other [construction] sites that I walked, there seems to be a little bit of disorientation.”

Wynn promised that in-progress Wynn Palace would be “will be the photo-op of South China.” He was gallant toward his competitors, figuratively tipping the hat by saying they’d raised their games and forced him to do likewise. As might be expected, former partner Kazuo Okada is trying to foul the nest Wynn is building in Japan, filing a criminal complaint for defamation. Louis Freeh‘s investigation into Okada’s untoward activities in the Philippines is being denounced by Okada for “harm to public trust and circulation of rumors.”

A digression into Federal Reserve policies (with Wynn likening the Fed to Bernie Madoff) momentarily put the boss in a bad mood. When pressed on Wynn Palace, its mogul snapped, “I’ll answer your first question with one word, high. My level of confidence in the 552 [table games]? High. We don’t make these decisions in a vacuum, you understand, all right?”

He was happier describing Wynn Palace: “This time, gondolas that go through the fountains that go into the building, atria on the north and south, with floors that open and gorgeous huge sculptures come up. Ferris wheels and merry go rounds, and peacocks, whose tails open. And 25-foot-tall, all-floral sculptures of a Faberge Egg that opens with a surprise inside, that change every month in both atriums. You’d only do that if you were trying to attract the whole world.”

Analysts continue to fret about a Chinese economic slowdown, so Wynn offered a sneak peek of 2Q14. J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff summarized it thus: “mass win up 55% year-over-year … VIP win up 10% year-over-year … slot win up 13% year-over-year, and … no change in repayments related to credit extended to its junkets (still settling every 30 days).”

Given his high number of repeat customers, Wynn is putting entertainment in his restaurants rather than emphasizing it as a Macanese amenity unto itself: “They eat every time they come, so I went and put the entertainment in the restaurants.” Pointing to his track record, Wynn made an enviable boast, saying, “We’ve never not dominated with a facility we’ve built pound for pound any market we’ve ever been in for 47 years.” Who’d bet against him in Macao or wherever else he builds?

Not a word about Massachusetts, by the way.