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Wynn on Wynn Macau
Hello to our investors and analysts and hi to our competitors. What we have to say I think going to be very brief because I think these numbers speak for themselves. We had a wonderful year in China.
We always want to point out that the most important thing to recognize when looking at numbers of a – in our business is not so much market share per se. That’s a measurement of sort of casino revenue. What really is important is to look at the yield per table and the profitability per table. And I am very happy to see that again for the second or third consecutive year the profitability and the efficiency of our tables in Macau continued to climb in spite of the existence of some very fanciful competition that appeared this year.
The Macau is beginning to show some maturity. There are fine buildings that have been opened and are being operated and as market conditions have improved, I think that the rest of the construction that was started and temporarily halted will now continue. That’s all good news as we go forward in having that market big tour [ph]. We’ve happily established a niche for ourselves and our – I think our EBITDA was over $0.5 billion last year.
And although I don’t make forward-looking statements as a rule, we are tracking substantially ahead of that the first two months of the year and we haven’t even opened Encore, which is about 60 or 90 days away I think due April 24th, on a Wednesday. I think Linda decided that we’ll do with an April 24th. And that is the most beautiful thing we’ve ever done.
And when that kicks in, we’re going to have another little boost in our ability to understand and serve the specific needs of our customers. And our customers are admittedly the top end. This building, Encore in Macau – and I am taking just an extra minute to comment on it – is a building that was designed after we had two years of experience to understand the needs of our particular guests that gamble and visit Macau.
When we build Wynn Macau and opened it in ’06, we had done our very best in pre-opening research and design to have the building that would appeal to what we understood to be that market. And I am happy to say that we weren’t very far off the mark and the success that we have enjoyed is a direct reflection of the fact that we were able to get it right, especially in the wonderful employees that we were able to attract to come work for us.
The workforce in Macau is totally delicious. I mean the people that have come to work for us from Macau, from Mainland China, from the Philippines, have the most wonderful desire to be trained and to improve and be successful in their jobs. That’s probably been our main asset is the people that work for us, which is why we never cut back on salaries or the thirteenth month or why we never did any of the other things that some of our competitors have done because whether it’s in Macau or Las Vegas, our principal asset are our employees. And the ones we have now in China are just absolutely over the moon wonderful as far as we are concerned.
And we have the organization that’s going to be in place to open Encore, I am happy to say in a few months. And I think when everybody gets a whiff of that place they are going to realize that we’ve set a new standard in hospitality, facilities, and the way we present our product. It is by far the best thing I’ve been part, and I’ve been doing this for forty odd years. It’s 414 rooms and suites and I am very excited about April’s opening, I can’t wait to share it with everybody. So much for Macau.
