Las Vegas Sands shared its financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 30, 2023. Net revenue for the period was $2.92 billion, a 161% increase over the $1.11 billion in the prior year. With this latest report, the total revenue for 2023 reaches $10.37 billion.
According to the report, operating income in Q4 was $710 million, compared to an operating loss of $166 million in the prior year quarter. Net income from continuing operations in the fourth quarter was $469 million, a marked improvement over the net loss of $269 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and CEO, said: “We were extremely pleased with our financial and operating results for the quarter, which reflect the ongoing improvement in the operating environment in both Macao and Singapore. We remain deeply enthusiastic about our opportunities for growth in both Macao and Singapore in the years ahead.”
“In Macao, the ongoing recovery across all segments continued during the quarter. Our decades-long commitment to making investments that enhance the business and leisure tourism appeal of Macao and support its development as a world center of business and leisure tourism positions as well as the ongoing recovery in travel and tourism spending progress,” he noted.
“In Singapore, Marina Bay Sands once again delivered outstanding levels of financial and operating performance. Our new suite product and elevated service offerings position us well as airlift capacity continues to improve and the recovery in travel and tourism spending from China and the wider region continues to advance,” the CEO added.
Macau's Venetian
Breaking down the revenue figure for Q4 by segments, Casino remains by far its core business, as revenue in the quarter amounted to $2.11 billion, up from the $654 million from last year.
Furthermore, Room revenue also increased to $323 million from 154 million last year, while Food and Beverage revenue hiked to $161 million from $103 million. Moreover, the operator also noted a rise in Mall revenue to $232 million from $164 million, while Convention, Retail, and Other revenue reached $88 million, up from $42 million in 2022.
Turning to spending, operating expenses jumped 71.9% to $2.21 billion, while after accounting for other, finance costs, pre-tax profit from continuing operations was $592 million, compared to a $287 million loss in 2022.
Marina Bay Sands in Singapore
As for geographical performance, of the revenue generated in the last quarter, $1.06 billion was accumulated by the company’s Singapore operation, Marina Bay Sands. This represented growth of 55.6% from this time last year and 24.4% more than what was reported in the same quarter in 2019, indicating that despite recovery not being complete across all operations, business in Singapore has been able to surpass pre-pandemic levels.
Meanwhile, Macau operations are still down from 2019, with revenue generated by the company’s five casino resorts and other ventures totaling $1.86 billion. While this reflects an increase of 319.6% from the same period last year, it is still 16.9% less than Q4 in 2019.
The Venetian Macao led the way with $748 million in revenue, ahead of The Londoner Macao on $589 million. The Parisian Macao posted $222 million in revenue, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Macao $192 million, while Sands Macao posted $81 million. A further $31 million came from ferry operations and other activities.
Sands' Robert Goldstein
“We are fortunate that our financial strength supports our ongoing investment and capital expenditure programs in both Macao and Singapore, our pursuit of growth opportunities in new markets, and the return of capital to stockholders,” Goldstein commented.
“We repurchased $505 million LVS shares under our share repurchase program during the quarter. We look forward to utilizing our share repurchase program to return excess capital to stockholders in the future. In addition, we entered into an agreement during the quarter to purchase approximately $250 million of Sands China stock, which, upon settlement of the agreement, is expected to increase our ownership interest in Sands China,” he added.
Full-year overview
Breaking down Sands’ performance in the full year, of the $10.38 billion revenue posted, some $7.52 billion came from gaming operations. A further $1.20 billion was attributed to rooms, while $584 million to food and beverage. Additionally, $767 million was attributed to Mall, and $295 million to Convention, Retail and Other.
Revenue from Macao operations amounted to $6.56 billion, up from $1.63 billion in the previous year. The stand-out venue in the region was the Venetian Macao, where revenue hiked 293.3% to $2.68 billion. Meanwhile, revenue and the Londoner was 412.0% higher at $1.79 billion.
Turning to Singapore, revenue was up 53.0% to $3.95 billion. All revenue in Singapore came from the Marina Bay Sands venue in the city center. Sands also noted $224.0 million in inter-company royalties for the year.
Other highlights
Away from its core Asian market, Goldstein also referenced expansion plans for Sands in the US. This time last year, Sands set out a proposal to open a new land-based casino in the state, just days after an application process for new licenses opened.
Goldstein referenced this in an investor call held after the results were posted. He said that should Sands secure the license, it intends to begin work on the new $6.00 billion facility straight away.
Aside from New York, there is talk of Sands exploring options in Texas. While gambling has not yet been legalized in the state, Chief Operating Officer Patrick Dumont said that there is potential for Sands to open a casino.
Meanwhile, Sands has announced a series of changes to the leadership team at Sands China. Goldstein will step down as CEO but remain chair of the board and be redesignated as a non-executive director.
Wong Ying Wai will become Executive Vice Chairman and Chum Kwan Lock CEO. Sun MinQi will move to the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Dylan Williams Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Company Secretary.
See Las Vegas Sands’ full report here.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/noticias/2024/01/25/70561-las-vegas-sands-39-2023-revenue-reaches-1037b-driven-by-growth-across-both-macau-and-singapore
