Wynn Resorts falls as it posts loss and cuts dividend

Wynn Resorts led the ranks of declining S&P 500 companies on Wednesday after the casino operator reported a first-quarter loss and cut its dividend by two-thirds.

The Nevada-based company reported a loss of $44.6m, or 44 cents a share in the three months ended in March. Overall sales fell 28 per cent to $1.09bn

Analysts on Wall Street had forecast earnings of $1.34 a share on sales of $1.1bn. Adjusted earnings of 70 cents a share fell short of estimates.

Net revenues at Wynn Macau - which accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the company's revenues last year - fell 38 per cent year on year to $705.4m. Table games turnover in the "VIP segment" was $17.1bn, 52.4 per cent lower than the year ago period.

An anti-graft campaign in China under president Xi Jinping has curbed spending by mainland Chinese gamblers in Macau.

On the company's earnings call, chief executive Steve Wynn said hopes for improvement during the lunar new year failed to materialise and that "the depression of the VIP market continues".

Meanwhile, net revenues at Wynn Las Vegas, rose 1.6 per cent from the prior year to $386.9m.

With operations in Las Vegas "largely focused on the high-end, versus mass market and convention/leisure customers, we don't see Wynn capturing as much potential upside from a US recovery as MGM Resorts", said Joel Simkins, an analyst at Credit Suisse.

Wynn also cut its quarterly dividend to 50 cents a share, from $1.50, which implies an annual dividend of $2.

Shares of Wynn Resorts, which have declined more than 25 per cent so far this year, fell 15 per cent to $110.93.

Starwood Hotels, owner of the St Regis and Sheraton brands, said on Wednesday that it has hired Lazard to "explore a full range of strategic and financial alternatives" to increase shareholder value.

The news accompanied Starwood's first-quarter results, which showed a sharp drop in profit. Shares of the hotel operator climbed 8 per cent to $87.13.

Humana was among the worst performing stocks on the S&P 500 after the health insurance provider missed first-quarter profit expectations following a rise in cost to pay medical benefit claims.

The Kentucky-based company said net income climbed 17 per cent from a year earlier to $430m, or $2.82 a share. Excluding certain items, the company said it earned $2.47 a share, shy of analyst consensus by 8 cents.

Shares slid 7 per cent to $168.15, wiping roughly $2bn off its market valuation.

Genworth Financial shares soared 10 per cent to $8.79 after the company's chief executive said he was talking to prospective buyers and was willing to take the company private as he seeks to overhaul the financial company.

"We're in the early stages of talking to players who might be interested and in the blocks or the GLAIC entity," Tom McInerney said on a conference call, referring to the company's global life and annuity insurance unit.

Overall, US equities weakened after a report showed first-quarter growth in the world's largest economy rose 0.2 per cent from a quarter earlier - below projections for a 1 per cent rise.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 per cent to 2,107.67 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3 per cent to 18,054.15. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.4 per cent to 5,035.17.

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