Las Vegas Sands Revenue Drops but Profit Grows

Las Vegas – (Associated Press) - International gambling destination Macau continued to pose a challenge for casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp. in the third quarter.

But as high-roller gamblers eased back there, they shelled out at the company’s Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore where the casino’s win-per-day climbed to $4.82 million.

The company also pointed to increased spending on entertainment, retail shops and hotel rooms beyond the casino floors.

The company’s quarterly profit increased 7.2 percent due to a focus in part on non-gambling revenue despite overall revenue dropping 1 percent to $3.53 billion in the same three months.

Sheldon Adelson, the company’s CEO and chairman, remained bullish on Macau and expansions into other Asian gambling markets during a conference call with investors and analysts Wednesday.

"All things in life are cyclical," Adelson said, adding that it was only a matter of time before Macau turned around again. He called the Chinese market, "under-penetrated."

Corruption investigations into the gambling industry there — including into VIP junket services that infuse casinos with high-roller gamblers — plus protests by Hong Kong citizens, have had an effect on resorts doing business in Macau.

The company is still moving forward with its Parisian Macau resort that Adelson said he expected to open, partially by late 2015 and fully by early 2016.

The billionaire casino owner reiterated his interested in investing substantial capital in Japan and Korea, and said Vietnam also has potential. He said Las Vegas Sands had the financial wherewithal to pursue projects in all three countries if the opportunity arose.

Adelson, though, said he wouldn’t be interested in developing any casino resorts, "in Japan or any other country" if regulations there required the properties serve foreign customers only.