Wynn Shares Up on Expansion Plans
Steve Wynn is upping his Las Vegas bet, and investors are lining up behind him.
Shares of his
Wynn Resorts
(WYNN) - Get Report
were up $1.17, or 1.6%, at $74.03 Wednesday after the company disclosed it was elevating its second Las Vegas project to a full-fledged resort even before the first roulette wheel spins at its flagship casino.
Wynn's first project, the high-end Wynn Las Vegas Resort, is set to open April 28.
Now the company has increased the size and scope of Encore, which it originally intended to be an addition to the Wynn Las Vegas, according to a filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
.
The price tag has increased, too. Wynn now foresees Encore costs topping out at $1.4 billion, vs. an originally planned $900 million. The company expects to fund the project in part with proceeds of mortgage notes it has already sold, along with cash flow from the Wynn Las Vegas.
Although Wynn has yet to finalize the new Encore design, it now expects it will have about 2,000 full hotel suites, as well as "significant" additional casino, convention and meeting space. The original plan called for 1,500 small suites, a small amount of casino space and 30,000 square feet of meeting rooms.
The expanded Encore, which will adjoin the Wynn Las Vegas, will take longer to build, with the anticipated opening pushed back to the first half of 2008 from the second half of 2007.
The company attributed the expansion to anticipated demand for its first resort, along with continued strength in the Las Vegas market.