Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands, has expressed confidence in eventually emerging from the coronavirus crises with “promising further growth opportunities fully intact”
The comments come as the casino operator published a first quarter update which sees an “unprecedented” impact felt across the group, following a number of donations made across the US in a bid to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Reemphasising that the greatest priority for the company remains the safety and security of team members and guests, Sands also maintains its ongoing commitment across local communities in Macau, Singapore and Las Vegas.
Net revenue for the group was reported as $1.78bn, a 51.1 per cent from the $3.62bn year-on-year, with the company’s casino segment, severely impacted by a number of closures, dropping 55.7 per cent to $1.17bn (2019: $2.66bn).
Net loss in the first quarter of 2020 was $51m compared to net income of $744m in the first quarter of 2019, with consolidated adjusted property EBITDA coming in at $437m, a decrease of 69.9% from $1.45bn.
Total net revenue for Sands China decreased 65.1 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2019 to $814m, with net loss finishing at $166m contrasted to 2019’s to net income of $557m
“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our business has been unprecedented, and I have never seen anything like it in my over seventy years in business,” explained Adelson.
“Our greatest priority during this difficult time remains our deep commitment to supporting our team members and to helping those in need in each of our local communities of Macao, Singapore and Las Vegas. Despite these circumstances, our balance sheet strength will enable us to emerge from this pandemic with all our promising future growth opportunities fully intact.
“We remain extremely optimistic about an eventual recovery of travel and tourism spending across our markets, as well as our future growth prospects. We are fortunate that our financial strength will allow us to continue to execute our previously announced capital expenditure programs in both Macao and Singapore, while continuing to pursue growth opportunities in new markets.”