Las Vegas Sands Profit Falls 30%, Hurt by Macau Declines

By Josh Beckerman 

Las Vegas Sands Corp. said second-quarter earnings fell 30% as declines in Macau continued to drag on its results.

Macau, the company's largest market, "remained challenging during the quarter; but we do see signs of stabilization, particularly in the mass market," the company said.

A corruption crackdown and slowing economy in China have hurt business for Macau casino operators. In the short term, the European Football Cup was considered a potential rival for gambling attention.

Although revenue declined at its Macau sites, including a 9.9% decrease at the Venetian Macao, the company said strong cost discipline helped its margins there.

At Las Vegas operations, which include the Venetian, revenue was up 3%, while the Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania posted a 6.5% increase. At the Marina Bay Sands property in Singapore, revenue fell 2.9%.

Las Vegas Sands shares rose 5% to $50.20 in after-hours trading Monday.

Over all, Las Vegas Sands reported a profit of $328 million, or 41 cents a share, down from $469.2 million, or 59 cents a share, a year earlier. Earnings excluding items fell to 52 cents a share from 60 cents. Revenue fell 9.3% to $2.65 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected earnings excluding items of 56 cents a share on revenue of $2.76 billion.

In June, Fitch Ratings affirmed its ratings for Las Vegas Sands, citing a strong balance sheet and predicting eventual improvement in Macau.

Write to Josh Beckerman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 25, 2016 18:11 ET (22:11 GMT)

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