Singapore recovery drives revenue growth at Las Vegas Sands in Q3
Las Vegas Sands put a 17.7% year-on-year rise in revenue during its third quarter primarily down to continuing, post-pandemic recovery in Singapore, while the operator reiterated its plans for new investment in the region.
Despite activity in Singapore having been impacted by travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic, the region remains Sands’ core market, and with many measures having been lifted, operations in city-state have returned to near-normal.
Sands’ commitment to Singapore was demonstrated during the third quarter when its chief executive Robert Goldstein in July dubbed the country “an outstanding market for additional investment” during the Q2 2022 earnings call, amid discussions of premium customer retention and developments further afield.
Goldstein added that he expected further growth should online gambling become legal in the country.
Speaking on the back of Sands publishing its Q3 results, Goldstein once again said activity in Singapore will only go from strength-to-strength now that Covid-19 restrictions have been eased, adding it will continue pursuit of growth opportunities in the country and Macao.
“We remain enthusiastic about the opportunity to welcome more guests back to our properties as greater volumes of visitors are able to travel to both Singapore and Macao,” Goldstein said.
“Our investments in our team members, our communities and our industry-leading Integrated Resort property portfolio position us exceedingly well to deliver future growth as travel restrictions subside and the recovery in travel and tourism progresses.
“We are fortunate that our financial strength supports our investment and capital expenditure programs in both Macao and Singapore, as well as our pursuit of growth opportunities in new markets.”
Looking at the quarter as a whole, revenue in the three months to the end of September was $1.01bn (£896m/€1.03bn), up from $857m in the previous year.
Casino activity accounted for $637m in revenue, with rooms contribution at $123m, food and beverage $82m, malls $119m, and convention, retail and other at $44m.
The Marina Bay Sands in Singapore was by far Sands’ most successful property, generating $756m in revenue during the quarter. Macao revenue amounted to $258m, with Sands’ The Venetian Macao brining in the highest proportion of revenue here at $104m.
In terms of spending, operating expenses for Q3 reached $1.18bn, marginally higher than the $1.17bn spent in the same period last year. Sands also reported $143m in net finance spend, meaning it finished the quarter with a pre-tax loss of $320m, an improvement on $621m last year.
Sands also paid $60m in tax, leaving a total net loss of $380m, compared to $594m in 2021. However, Sands also noted that $142m of its net loss was attributable to non-controlling interests, meaning net loss attributable to Sands was $239m, again an improvement on $368m last year.
In addition, the operator said adjusted property earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was 306.4% higher year-on-year at $191m, driven by a significant jump in the contribution from Marina Bay Sands from $15m to $343m.
"We remain confident in the recovery of travel and tourism spending across our markets,” Goldstein said. “Demand from customers who have been able to visit remains robust.”