Wynn Macau junket operator rocked by employee theft of $258m

Casino operator Wynn Resorts saw its share price fall nearly 5% after reports spread of one of its Macau junket operators being the victim of a HKD 2b (US $258m) theft.

On Thursday, Sterne Agee analyst David Bain reported that a junket that controlled VIP rooms at Wynn Macau had lost as much as HKD 2b to internal thievery. A Wynn spokesman subsequently told Bloomberg that the junket in question was Dore Entertainment Co Ltd.

Wynn shares closed out the day down 4.6% to $69.67 after dipping as low as $68.11 but Wynn spokesman Michael Weaver insisted that the heist would have “no direct financial impact on Wynn Macau. Dore owes no money to the company and continues to operate in Wynn Macau.”

UBS Securities Asia issued a note saying that a junket cage manager was suspected of having “absconded with investor capital.” UBS cautioned that the HKD 2b figure could turn out to be inflated. Daiwa Securities Group concurred, suggesting the total loss could be as low as HKD 200m, although even that figure would be “material and quite significant” for an already struggling junket industry.