Las Vegas Sands has reported solid operations in Macao and Singapore in the second quarter of 2023 thanks to a recovery of travel and tourism spending in those regions.
Speaking on the company’s earnings call, Chairman and CEO Rob Goldstein highlighted that while recovery is taking place in Macao and Singapore, it is still “early days” and there is “room to run” in both markets.
For Q2, LVS declared net revenue of $2.54bn, a 143.3 per cent increase compared to the previous year (2022: $1.05bn) with all business segments undergoing an improvement year-over-year.
Regarding Macao operations, the operator stated that recovery of travel and tourism spending is underway as market-wide mass gaming revenue in the region reached around 87 per cent of Q2 2019’s figures.
As for Marina Bay Sands operations in Singapore, LVS noted that the location benefited from the relaxation of travel restrictions and an increase in flight capacity, improving the market visitation numbers in each region as a result. However, visitation from China remained below pre-COVID levels.
The operator added that additional increases in visitation from China “will be important” as travel and tourism in Singapore continue to recover.
Per segment, casino revenue rose by 162.6 per cent YoY to $1.86bn (2022: $709m), followed by rooms at $296m (2022: $97m), food and beverage at $143m (2022: $63m), mall at $172m (2022: $148m) and convention, retail and other at $69m (2022: $28m).
Property-by-property, Macao operations saw their revenues rise by 335.3 per cent to $1.63bn (2022: $374m), while revenue from Marina Bay Sands in Singapore improved by 36.2 per cent to $925m (2022: $679m).
Reflecting on the results, Goldstein stated that there is still more to come from both sets of operations as each region continues its recovery from the pandemic.
Speaking on the earnings call, the CEO said: “The powerful recovery taking place in Macao and Singapore is evident in our results.
“We believe it’s early days, and there’s still room to run in both those markets. We continue to invest in both markets for our future growth. We do have a structural advantage in Macao based on our scale. As the market accelerates, we will be a major beneficiary in the future.
“Singapore continues to do well despite two impediments in the midst of $1bn renovation which does impact adversely the results in Singapore. In addition, we haven’t seen a full return of the Chinese premium mass segment yet. This iconic building has a very bright future. Cash flow recovery is in full bloom, so it’s very, very enjoyable to say ‘yay dividends’.”
LVS’ operating income came in at $537m, a complete turnaround from Q2 2022’s loss of $147m, while net income stood at $368m, an improvement as well on the previous year’s loss of $414m.
LVS’ consolidated adjusted property EBITDA for Q2 was $973m, up 365 per cent YoY (2022: $209m) and the operator’s strongest financial performance since 2019.
Adjusted EBITDA for Macao operations were back in the positives, rising to $541m (2022: $110m loss), while Marina Bay Sands also improved to $432m (2022: $319m).
As of June 30, LVS’ unrestricted cash balances were $5.77bn.
