Wynn Resorts projected that its upcoming integrated casino resort in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could generate earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), worth $600 million.
Earlier this week, the CEO of the US gambling giant, Craig Billings, commented on the release of the company’s financial results for the first fiscal quarter of the year. Mr. Billings forecasted that the planned resort in the United Arab Emirates – Wynn Al Marjan Island – would be able to generate EBITDA worth between $350 million and $600 million. According to him, the combination of the 40% equity ownership in the project and the license fees and management would eventually result in a “healthy return” on the investment (ROI) that was made in the development by the shareholders of Wynn Resorts.
The estimated cost of the project, which is set to become the first gambling venue in the region, is $4 billion. The integrated casino project’s targeted opening date is the beginning of 2027.
The minority interest that Wynn Resorts will have in the venue reduces its financial exposure basically means that the US casino and gambling operator would not own the entire $4 billion, because the new UAE casino is being developed in collaboration with the company’s local partners – RAK Hospitality Holding LLC and Marjan LLC.
Wynn Resorts to Control only about 4% of the Wynn All Marjan Island Project
Casino gaming has still not been officially approved on the territory of the United Arab Emirates, which is exactly the reason why the gambling space would not be the centerpiece of the Wynn All Marjan Island project.
The American gambling giant is set to control only about 4% of the mighty property’s 5.6 million square feet. That is an area larger than Wynn Las Vegas’ gambling area, but also implies that the property in the United Arab Emirates will be less focused on gambling than the Encore Boston Harbor or the Wynn Macau venues.
According to the company’s boss, the UAE business would be much more akin to Wynn Resorts’ business in Las Vegas than the Macau venues of the brand or the Encore Boston Harbor, which operate on markets that are mostly centered on gambling. He shared that the top management of the gambling giant believed that such a division could find a healthy balance of non-gambling and gambling operations, which in its turn allowed Wynn Resorts to provide a top-quality experience to its customers and generate healthy returns for the operators’ investors.
Some analysts believe that Wynn Resorts does not actually need gambling to be in the spotlight at its new project in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai, which is situated only an hour away from the place where the venue is set to be located – Al Marjan Island – is one of the most-visited destinations in the entire Middle East, and a large number of tourists go there every year to experience various luxurious amenities, all of which have been synonymous with the properties of Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas for years.
