Wynn dividend raises eyebrows

The timing of a special dividend to investors by Wynn Resorts Ltd. was called into question by a few stock market observers.

A day after Barron's panned the stocks of casino companies operating in Macau, Wynn Resorts, which owns the Wynn Las Vegas and Wynn Macau, announced a $6 per share cash distribution. The Barron's article may have sparked at 10 percent drop in shares of Wynn Resorts on the Nasdaq National Market. The dividend announcement fueled a 6 percent jump.

The payout totals $658.6 million and Chairman Steve Wynn stands to collect $143.8 million.

"Wynn Resorts announced something that would have otherwise been unexpected," said Jon Ogg, who produces the 24/7 Wall St. newsletter. "Shares were already sold off significantly when Barron's noted that the Macau casinos were trading at 'bubble' valuations."

Adam Warner, an options trader writing for Minyanville Publications, said the Wynn announcement was "big enough to cause some real repercussions on the options board."

Jefferies & Co. gaming analyst Larry Klatzkin, however, said negative comments about Macau attributed to him were misquoted by Barron's.

"We continue to see Macau's gaming market to be strong and forecast it to be on track for a total market size of over $15 billion (in annual gaming revenues) by the end of 2010," Klatzkin said.

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is touring the country thanks to Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson. According to financial disclosures researched by the New York Daily News, the Giuliani campaign reimbursed Adelson more than $122,000 for using a Gulfstream G-IV owned by Adelson.

Rules governing the use of private jets by presidential candidates changed in September. Candidates were only required to reimburse companies the fair-market cost of a first-class, commercial airlines ticket for each passenger. Candidates now must repay companies the fair-market rate for chartering a similar jet.

According to the Daily News, the Giuliani campaign reimbursed Adelson six times during the summer-fall reporting period, five times under the less costly formula.

Maryland residents will vote next November whether or not the state will be home to 15,000 slot machines. Legislators approved a measure that would place slot machines in Baltimore, Allegany and three counties.

"We would clearly view (passage) as a positive for gaming equipment suppliers as Maryland expansion would be incremental to current expectations," Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Bill Lerner said.

The Inside Gaming column is compiled by Review-Journal gaming and tourism writers Howard Stutz, Benjamin Spillman and Arnold M. Knightly. Send your tips about the gaming and tourism industry to insidegaming@reviewjournal.com.