Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands this week both reported higher fourth-quarter earnings on strong Las Vegas hotel-room demand and even stronger demand for rooms in the Asia-Pacific region.
Wynn Resorts' fourth-quarter earnings jumped 67% from a year earlier, to $190.5 million, as revenue increased 8.6%, to $1.34 billion. The company's Macau-based revenue rose 9.1% from a year earlier as hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) advanced 8.6%, to $304, primarily on room-rate increases. Hotel occupancy was 94.2%.
Revenue from Wynn's Las Vegas operations such as Wynn Las Vegas and Encore rose 7.2% from a year earlier, to $348.4 million. RevPAR rose 2.6%, to $197, as room-rate increases more than offset the effect of a 2.7 percentage-point drop in occupancy.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands' fourth-quarter net income increased 17% from a year earlier, to $320.1 million, as revenue jumped 26%, to $2.54 billion. In Las Vegas, the company's RevPAR advanced 13% from a year earlier, primarily on a nine-percentage-point increase in occupancy rates at the Venetian and Palazzo.
In the Asia-Pacific region, results were even better. The company's Venetian Macau and Sands Macau had RevPAR increases of 14% and 18%, respectively, while its Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore had a 50% jump in RevPAR.
Las Vegas Sands looks to benefit further from increased gaming and travel spending in Asia by opening its Sands Cotai Central resort project in Macau this spring.
For hotel and hospitality news, follow Danny King on Twitter @dktravelweekly.