UPDATE 3-Wynn Resorts beats estimates, shares surge

* EPS ex-items 9 cents; Street view loss 1 cent

* Operating costs/expenses down 6 percent

* Shares up about 15 percent (Adds company comment, updates share price)

By Deena Beasley

LOS ANGELES, July 30 (Reuters) - Casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN.O) posted better-then-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday, helped by lower expenses, sending its shares up 15 percent.

Operating costs and expenses fell 6 percent and Las Vegas casino revenue increased. But the company continued to discount Las Vegas hotel room prices, and swine flu fears hurt business in Macau.

"Overall, bottom-line results were ahead of our expectation as revenue came in pretty much in line and expenses were generally lower than anticipated," said Susquehanna Financial analyst Robert LaFleur.

Excluding one-time items, the Las Vegas-based company posted a profit of 9 cents per share, handily beating analysts' average forecast of a 1-cent-per-share loss, according to Reuters Estimates.

Wynn executives, speaking on a conference call with investors and analysts, said Las Vegas expenses were cut by just over $140,000 per day in the second quarter from the first quarter, with nearly half the savings coming from payroll. Savings in Macau were about $15 million for the quarter, the company said.

"The good news is, as volumes improve, we will have much better margins," said Chief Executive Steve Wynn.

Wynn, which has filed to list its Macau unit on the Hong Kong stock exchange, reported net income of $25.5 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with $272 million, or $2.42 per share, a year earlier.

Despite the opening in late December of Encore, Wynn's second Las Vegas resort, net revenue fell 12 percent to $723.3 million. Analysts had expected $733.6 million.

Operating costs and expenses were down 6 percent at $640.5 million.

Casino operators have struggled as recession-hit consumers cut back on luxuries like travel and as businesses cut back on conventions and meetings to trim travel costs and avoid perceptions of frivolous spending.

Wynn said adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 8 percent to $75.5 million at its Las Vegas operations, and dropped 24 percent to $117.2 million in Macau, where the company operates one casino and will open a second next year.

Las Vegas net casino revenue rose to $124.3 million from $120.7 million a year earlier, while gross non-casino revenue increased 9.4 percent to $231.9 million, mainly due to the opening of Encore.

"They did nicely in Las Vegas -- casino revenues held up well ... but RevPAR (revenue per available room) is still a disaster, it fell 36 percent in the quarter," said Sanford Bernstein analyst Janet Brashear. "The travel part of the revenues are clearly not recession-resistant."

In Macau, net revenue fell to $410.4 million from $529.9 million a year earlier.

Both Macau and Las Vegas are facing the prospect of new supply, but the advent of a new chief executive in Macau is leading to talk that China could begin to ease Macau visa restrictions put in place last year.

Wynn also has a parcel of land on a section of Macau known as the Cotai Strip. "Clearly that represents our next move in China," said CEO Steve Wynn. "There is no other jurisdiction in Asia that would warrant a Wynn Resorts focus."

In the United States, Wynn said the company is bidding, along with six or seven others, to operate a planned gambling complex at New York's Aqueduct racetrack.

Wynn shares, which have traded as low as $14.50 and as high as $119.74 over the past year, were up $6.56 at $50.87 on Nasdaq at mid-afternoon.

(Reporting by Deena Beasley; Additional reporting by Karen Jacobs; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, John Wallace and Richard Chang)