Las Vegas Sands, fueled by Chinese units, rides to profitable third quarter

Las Vegas Sands Corp. rode the opening of its new Parisian resort in Macau and the region’s recent economic wave to a profitable third quarter that generated $1.73 billion from the company’s Chinese units.

The Las Vegas company’s Macau operations, reported Thursday, included $68.6 million in revenue from the 18 days the Parisian was open in the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

In a conference call Thursday afternoon, Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson called the Parisian opening “a smashing success” and said there has been no sign of cannibalization of customers from the company’s other Macau properties.

“If anything, we saw an increase in activity at our other hotels and casinos on the Cotai Strip,” Adelson said. “Our marketing activities clearly paid dividends.”

The company spent $85.9 million in pre-opening costs, but the effort paid off in the Parisian’s social media presence with 1.2 billion views and impressions of the property around opening day Sept. 13.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is unprecedented,” Adelson said.

“We’re gratified with the customer acceptance,” Rob Goldstein, president and chief operating officer for the company, added during the call.

Goldstein was quick to dismiss analysts’ queries about whether the Parisian’s earnings potential would eclipse those of the Venetian Macao.

“It’s unrealistic that it will approach Venetian numbers,” Goldstein said. “The Venetian is the juggernaut of Macau.”

The conference call focused primarily on Macau and the company’s strong quarter in Singapore.

For the quarter, Sands on Thursday reported net income of $605.5 million, 65 cents a share, on revenue of $2.97 billion. That compared with net income of $618.2 million, 65 cents a share, on revenue of $2.89 billion in the same quarter of 2015.

The company also announced that it would pay a dividend of 72 cents a share on Dec. 30 for shareholders of record Dec. 21. The Sands board of directors approved a 4-cent-per-quarter increase in the company’s recurring common stock dividend for the 2017 calendar year, bringing the annual dividend to $2.92.

In Singapore, the company reported a 98.3 percent occupancy rate and an average daily room rate of $475 — both records for the property. The company’s Marina Bay Sands casino operation reported $591.4 million in revenue, up 1.1 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, and room revenue of $109 million, 10.4 percent ahead of the 2015 third quarter.

Company officials also reiterated their interest in entering Japan.

“It’s a 99 to 100 percent certainty that it (consideration of a casino and integrated resort in Japan) will come up in this Diet session,” Adelson said of Japan’s legislative process.

“Are we there? Yes, we are there,” he said. “We don’t know yet what the who, what, where and when are. We’ll have to see what the bill says if and when it passes. We’ve been in touch with Osaka frequently but we’ll have to consider our position, vis-a-vis Tokyo, if that comes up.”

Adelson said if Japan approves a resort and casino, South Korea would be almost sure to follow.

The company offered no commentary and executives received no questions from analysts about results in Las Vegas or Adelson’s personal interest in a Las Vegas stadium that could bring a National Football League team to Southern Nevada.

The quarterly operating results for Sands’ Las Vegas properties are similar to 2015’s third quarter in nearly every category except average daily room rate, which was up 8.1 percent to $240 a night, and a table games drop, down 29.1 percent to $430.8 million.

Third-quarter casino revenue was $122 million compared with $127.9 million a year ago in the Venetian and Palazzo in Las Vegas. Room revenue was $149.4 million, up from $138 million, food and beverage was at $57.8 million, down from $69.1 million last year, and convention and retail revenue was at $81.7 million compared with $76 million a year ago.

Hotel occupancy rates moved to 96.5 percent compared with 96 percent a year ago.

Total Las Vegas operational revenue was down less than 1 percent to $382.3 million for the quarter.

Sands shares fell 85 cents, 1.5 percent, to $56.74 a share at the closing bell, but rebounded in after-hours trading to $58.51, up 1.8 percent. Trading volume was nearly twice the normal average.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.