Casinos: Wynn Resorts Loses $0.04 Per Share in Q4, Misses Wall Street Expectations, Prepares for Expansion in Macau & Philly

So Wynn's earnings are now in, and it's looking more like a mixed bag that Wall Street isn't too enthusiastic about.

Wynn Resorts, a Las Vegas-based casino operator run by billionaire Steve Wynn, has had a tougher time getting luxury customers to pay top dollar for trips and entertainment at its high-end resorts in Las Vegas.

But strong results in Macau, the Chinese gambling enclave, helped offset losses in Sin City, and the company's profit and revenue beat analyst expectations.

Here's a summary of Wynn Resorts' fourth-quarter results for 2009 compared with the same quarter a year earlier:

- NET REVENUE: $809.3 million, up from $614.3 million in fourth quarter 2008

- NET LOSS: $5.2 million, smaller than the $159.6 million loss a year earlier.

- CASINO REVENUE: $591.8 million, up from $455.9 million

- HOTEL REVENUE: $92.7 million, up from $75 million

- FOOD AND BEVERAGE REVENUE: $106.1 million, up from $83.1 million

- OPERATING COSTS: $763.8 million, up from $614.6 million

- LONG-TERM DEBT: $3.6 billion

- FULL-YEAR NET INCOME: $20.7 million, down from $210.5 million in 2008.

Apparently the revenue numbers beat Wall Street estimates, but earnings did not. Oh, and Steve Wynn is still not in a patriotic mood. He's still trashing President Obama here while praising the Communist regime in China.

Steve Wynn said he's not optimistic about Las Vegas until the economy improves for working Americans -- and for companies that book meetings in Sin City.

''I'm afraid to say that I think the outlook for 2010 is very conservative,'' he said. ''I don't see any major change in the future. I don't see it getting worse per se, but I do think that unless there is some signal from Washington that they can control the deficits, that not only Las Vegas but the country faces dire problems.''

Excluding one-time items, Wynn Resorts earned $10.3 million, or 8 cents per share, for the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31. Analysts forecast profit of 7 cents per share.

Its net revenue was $809.3 million, compared with $614.3 million a year earlier. Analysts expected revenue of $785 million.

Wynn's revenue per available room, a key metric for lodging companies, was $233 in Macau, 2.9 percent less than a year earlier. In Las Vegas, it was $178, which was 20.6 percent less than in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The company's quarterly operating income of $89 million in China's gambling enclave, Macau, made up for operating losses of $56.7 million in Las Vegas.

''We're more of a Chinese company than American company today as we're having this call,'' Wynn said. ''I love it. Thank God for being outside the United States today. There isn't an executive in the world that isn't thrilled about being outside the United States today.''

HUH??!! Again, Steve Wynn just doesn't get politics... Or for that matter, macroeconomics. Deficits don't matter if people are still without jobs!

Whatever... Back to Wynn Resorts' earnings report.

So Wynn is planing on Encore Macau opening in April. And so far, Wynn Resorts remains very bullish on its prospects in China.

Oh, and we now have more details on the planned Wynn project in Philadelphia. It will be a Wynn branded casino. However, it will NOT include a hotel. It will be targeting mostly customers/gamblers in the greater Philly area, so it's looking like Wynn's planning on more of a "locals' casino" for Philly than a real destination resort a la Wynn/Encore Las Vegas or Wynn/Encore Macau. And supposedly, we'll hear even more details of the Philly project later.

So what can we conclude from this? Wynn's Las Vegas operations are slowly improving and moving back toward a regular profit, but it's not quite there yet. And if it weren't for Wynn's Chinese operations, its situation would be much worse.

And Harrah's turned a profit last quarter that no one else, not even Wynn, could match.

Casinos: Harrah's Turns a Profit in Q4 2009 While Station Reaches Deal to Escape Bankruptcy

Whoa, there! In a week filled with bizarre, ugly, and downright wacky news out of Carson City, it looks like things are looking brighter here in Vegas (which may help things in Carson City next year, interestingly enough). Believe it or not, Harrah's turned a profit late last year!

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. today reported a profit of $295.6 million in the fourth quarter, even as the recession contributed to a 10 percent decline in net revenue for its big hotel-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

The profit compares to a loss of $4.782 billion in 2008's fourth quarter, when the Las Vegas company booked special costs of $5.49 billion to write down the value of goodwill and other intangible assets.

Harrah's attributed some of its profit in 2009's fourth quarter to financial engineering. Its interest expense fell by $118 million in the quarter and it posted a pre-tax gain of $686 million due to debt exchanges and other purchases of its debt at discounted prices.

OK, so much of this profit was "engineered" out of tricky accounting and and playing with its debt. But hey, it's still a profit... Which MGM Mirage and Las Vegas Sands can't say. (Both companies actually reported narrower losses than expected, but still bled a little more red in Q4.)

Oh, and now for the other big casino story of the day... Station has a deal??!!

Station Casinos Inc. today announced it has reached an agreement with key lenders that the company hopes will clear the way for it to receive approval to emerge from bankruptcy this summer.

While the company didn’t disclose details, the arrangement with lenders holding $2.475 billion of debt secured by four of Station’s most valuable hotel-casinos is expected to result in the lenders swapping some debt for equity in the company. [...]

[T]he deal- if approved — would keep the company and its 18 casino properties and extensive land holdings together.

It’s expected members of the founding Fertitta family, along with Station majority owner Colony Capital of Los Angeles, would maintain equity stakes.

The Fertittas would make a substantial, but undisclosed, equity investment and the current management team led by Chairman and Chief Executive Frank Fertitta III would continue to lead the company.

“We are extremely pleased to have reached an agreement in principle with certain of our key mortgage lenders for the comprehensive reorganization of our Company,” Fertitta III said in a statement. “This is a very important step in our restructuring process. Our commitment to the successful restructuring of our company is demonstrated by (my brother) Lorenzo and me making a significant investment in the reorganized company. This restructuring will create a much stronger company going forward that will benefit our team members, guests and the Las Vegas community as a whole.”

WOW! Honestly, I really wasn't expecting this. After all the recent controversy over what Station has been doing, it was starting to look inevitable that Boyd would "do some bargain hunting" in bankrputcy court. If this holds, Station might just survive.

So perhaps the worst is over? Maybe, just maybe, we can really start to believe it now. Station was starting to look like "The Meltdown of The Millennium", while Harrah's was really looking doomed with all its debt load and casino losses all over the country.

But apparently, tomorrow is another day... And that brighter tomorrow looks to be starting today.