Wynn Macau’s net income jumped to US$ 567 million

That beat the HK$4.07 billion (US$ 521 million) average of 13 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Casino sales increased 60 % to HK$21.1 billion (US$ 270).

The company opened Encore Macau in April, its second location in the only place in China where casinos are legal and where overall gambling revenue surged 58 % last year. Wynn hopes to begin groundwork on its planned third Macau resort in the Cotai area as early as this month, founder and CEO Steve Wynn said in February.

Macau’s casino gambling revenue increased 38%to 18.7 billion patacas (US$ 2.3 billion) in the first 13 days of this month, CLSA analysts led by Aaron Fischer estimated in a note to clients yesterday. Casino sales in the former Portuguese colony rose 48 % to 19.9 billion patacas  (US$ 2.4 million) last month and increased 33 % to 18.6 billion patacas (US$ 23 million) in January, according to government data.

Wynn Macau has doubled in market value over the past year and rose 2.6 % to HK$21.70, before the earnings were released. Controlling shareholder Wynn Resorts advanced 4.6 to US$ 121.76 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Both companies reported fourth-quarter profit last month. Wynn Resorts posted a better-than-expected net income for the period of US$ 114.2 million and the Macau unit said profit more than doubled to US$ 208.8 million in the three months ended December.