Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors
A description of our risk factors can be found in Item 1A, Part I of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. There were no material changes to those risk factors during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 other than the risk factor described below:
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 ("COVID-19") has had and will likely continue to have an adverse effect on our business, operations, financial condition and operating results, and the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends and distributions.
In January 2020, an outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, was identified and it has since spread around the world including the United States. Currently, there are no fully effective vaccines or treatments and there can be no assurance that an effective vaccine or treatment will be developed. The spread of COVID-19 and the recent developments surrounding the global pandemic are currently having negative impacts on all aspects of our business.
The current, and uncertain future, impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including its effect on the ability or desire of people to travel (including to and from our properties), is expected to continue to affect our results, operations, outlooks, plans, goals, growth, reputation, cash flows and liquidity.
The U.S. government has put in place restrictions on travel to the United States from Europe and Asia, and could expand the restrictions. A significant portion of our business in the United States relies on the willingness and ability of premium international customers to travel to the United States. As such, our Las Vegas Operations and operations at Encore Boston Harbor have been and may continue to be adversely impacted.
Furthermore, in response to and as part of a continuing effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we temporarily closed all operations at Wynn Las Vegas and at Encore Boston Harbor, and they remained closed until authorized to re-open under U.S. and state government directives, on June 4, 2020 and July 10, 2020, respectively. Since reopening, we have implemented certain COVID-19 specific protective measures at each location, such as limiting the number of seats per table game, slot machine spacing, temperature checks, and mask protection. At Encore Boston Harbor, since reopening, certain food and beverage outlets remain closed and hotel reservations were limited to Thursday through Sunday through the third quarter of 2020. Beginning October 19, 2020, Encore at Wynn Las Vegas adjusted its operating schedule to five days/four nights each week due to currently reduced customer demand levels. On November 2, 2020, the Governor of Massachusetts issued a directive limiting the operating hours of certain businesses, including restaurants and casinos, effective November 6, 2020. Encore Boston Harbor has modified its hours of operation as a result of this directive. In addition, we have been, and will continue to be further, negatively impacted by developments related to COVID-19, including heightened governmental regulations and travel advisories, including recommendations by the U.S. Department of State and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and travel bans and restrictions, each of which has impacted, and is expected to continue to significantly impact, the casino resort industry.
Our casino operations in Macau were closed for a 15-day period in February 2020 and resumed operations on a reduced basis on February 20, 2020. On March 20, 2020, our casinos’ operations were fully restored; however certain COVID-19 specific protective measures, such as various traveler quarantines and requirements for negative COVID-19 tests before entering Macau, limiting the number of seats per table game, slot machine spacing, temperature checks, mask protection, COVID-19 negative test results requirements for entry to gaming areas, and health declarations remain in effect at the present time. Visitation to Macau has significantly decreased since the outbreak of COVID-19, driven by the pandemic’s strong deterrent effect on travel and social activities, the Chinese government’s suspension in late January 2020 of many of its visa and group tour schemes that allow mainland Chinese residents to travel to Macau, various quarantine measures in Macau and elsewhere, travel and entry restrictions and conditions in Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China, and the suspension of ferry services to Macau from Hong Kong and mainland China and other modes of transportation within Macau. Regionally, bans on entry or enhanced quarantine requirements, depending on the person’s residency and their recent travel history, for any Macau residents, PRC citizens, Hong Kong residents and Taiwan residents attempting to enter Macau are drastically impacting
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visitation. Persons who are not residents of the Greater China area are barred from entry to Macau at this time, and quarantine requirements for those traveling between Hong Kong and Macau have been announced to remain effective until at least December 31, 2020, at which time they may be lifted.
While most of the foregoing travel restrictions and quarantine and testing requirements continue to weigh on visitation to Macau, beginning in June 2020 certain of these restrictions have eased as certain regions gradually recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2020, Guangdong Province, a Chinese province adjacent to Macau, eased certain quarantine requirements for those traveling between Guangdong Province and Macau, subject to certain testing requirements and health declarations.On September 23, 2020, mainland China authorities fully resumed the Individual Visit Scheme ("IVS") exit visa program, which, prior to its suspension by the PRC government due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, permitted individual PRC citizens from nearly 50 PRC cities to travel to Macau for tourism purposes. Stringent health declarations, testing and other procedures remain in place, and all visitors seeking entry to Macau need to test negative for COVID-19 before entering Macau. We are currently unable to determine when remaining restrictions and requirements will be further eased, and lifted or eased measures may be reintroduced if there are adverse developments in the COVID-19 situation in Macau and other regions with access to Macau.
Although all our properties are currently open, we cannot predict whether future closures would be appropriate or could be mandated. For instance, a confirmed COVID-19 case being found in the casinos in the future could result in all casino operations in Macau, including those of Wynn Palace and Wynn Macau, being suspended by the Macau government.
We cannot predict the effects of the conditions upon which we have been permitted by governmental authorities to reopen our operations. Moreover, even once travel advisories and restrictions are lifted, demand for casino resorts may remain weak for a significant length of time and we cannot predict if and when our properties will return to pre-outbreak demand or pricing. In particular, consumer behavior related to discretionary spending and traveling, including demand for casino resorts, may be negatively impacted by the adverse changes in the perceived or actual economic climate, including higher unemployment rates, declines in income levels and loss of personal wealth resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we cannot predict the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on our partners, such as tenants, travel agencies, suppliers and other vendors. We may be adversely impacted as a result of the adverse impact that our partners suffer.
As a result of all of the foregoing, we may be required to raise additional capital in the future and our access to and cost of financing will depend on, among other things, global economic conditions, conditions in the global financing markets, the availability of sufficient amounts of financing, our prospects and our credit ratings. If our credit ratings were to be downgraded, or general market conditions were to ascribe higher risk to our rating levels, our industry, or us, our access to capital and the cost of any debt financing will be further negatively impacted. In addition, the terms of future debt agreements could include more restrictive covenants, or require incremental collateral, which may further restrict our business operations or be unavailable due to our covenant restrictions then in effect. There is no guarantee that debt financings will be available in the future to fund our obligations, or that they will be available on terms consistent with our expectations.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased economic and demand uncertainty. The current outbreak and continued spread of COVID-19 could cause a global recession or depression, which would have a further adverse impact on our financial condition and operations. Current economic forecasts for significant increases in unemployment in the U.S. and other regions due to the adoption of social distancing and other policies to slow the spread of the virus is likely to have a negative impact on demand for casino resorts, and these impacts could exist for an extensive period of time.
The extent of the effects of the outbreak on our business and the casino resort industry at large is highly uncertain and will ultimately depend on future developments, including, but not limited to, the duration and severity of the pandemic, the length of time it takes for demand and pricing to return and normal economic and operating conditions to resume.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our results of operations and the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends and distributions. Given the uncertainty around the extent and timing of the potential future spread or mitigation of COVID-19 and around the imposition or relaxation of protective measures, the impact on our results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition in 2020 and potentially thereafter will be material, but cannot be reasonably estimated at this time as it is unknown when the COVID-19 pandemic will end, when or if our properties will return to pre-pandemic demand and pricing, when or how quickly the current travel restrictions will be eased and the resulting impact on our business and operations.
To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business, operations, financial condition and operating results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks related to our business, including, but not limited to, those relating to our high level of indebtedness, our need to generate sufficient cash flows to service our indebtedness, and our ability to comply with the covenants contained in the agreements that govern our indebtedness.
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Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.