Casino operator Las Vegas Sands (LVS) reported a 20.9% boost in Q4 2012 revenues, while full year revenues rose 18.3% to $11.13b. The company, which operates casinos in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Macau and Singapore, made a mockery of its previous financial records by reporting net income of $438.8m in Q4, a 35.8% bump over the same period in 2011, on net revenues of $3.08b. LVS’ Asian operations contributed $2.687b (87%) of that total, underscoring LVS supremo Sheldon Adelson’s comments that the results reflected “the steady execution of our global growth strategy.”
Adelson can’t get enough Asia, telling analysts: “We’ve been on the ground for some time in Japan, Korea and Vietnam. We’re also looking for more opportunities in Europe and South America…I couldn’t be more optimistic about the future.” That is, unless you’re talking stateside, as Adelson is convinced a lot of US markets “have been over-saturated or are about to be over-saturated. We keep our eye open but we don’t want to compete with the job that Caesars is doing in the riverboat market and the small casino market out there.”
As always, Sands China was the primary engine of LVS¹ growth. Total net revenues rose 48.1% to $1.97b in Q4, while net income rose 52.3% to $467m. The Venetian Macao generated $843m in net revenues, $722.3m of which came from gaming. Non-Rolling Chip drop rose 10.5% to $1.22b as win percentage improved from 29.2% to 29.9%. Rolling Chip volume fell 6.6% to $12.66b due to 29 fewer gaming tables available due to renovations at the VIP-focused Paiza Club, but this was offset by higher than expected win percentage of 3.25% (2.95% in Q4 2011). Slot handle rose 21.3% to $1.23b, while hold slipped from 5.9% to 5.5%.
The Four Seasons Hotel Macau and Plaza Casino produced $296.2m in net revenues ($260.2m from gaming). Non-Rolling Chip drop increased 24.2% to a record $125.5m on a win rate of 45.1%. Rolling Chip volume was up 42.7% to $10.73b on a win rate of 2.68%. Slot handle rose 43.7% to a record $350.4m, and slot hold rose from 4.8% to 5.3%.
Sands Macao generated $314.6m in net revenue ($305.8m from gaming). Non-Rolling Chip drop rose 3.1% to $708.6m, despite a decrease of 106 such tables since last year, on a win rate of 22.2%. Rolling Chip volume fell 24.2% to $5.76b, but win rose from 2.77% to 3.29%. Slot handle fell 2.5% to $605.4m while hold fell from 4.8% to 4.3%.
Sands Cotai Central only opened in April 2012, so there are no year-on-year comparisons. Non-Rolling Chip drop hit $932.5m with a win rate of 20.6%. Rolling Chip volume hit $10.17b with a better than expected win rate of 3.13%. Slot handle hit $1.24b, driven by “robust” electronic table games (ETG) play, with a hold of 3.7%. Mass table, slot and ETG win per day rose 65.4% over Q3 to $2.58m per day.
In Singapore, Marina Bay Sands was once again the victim of high-rollers holding hot hands. Net revenues fell 11.1% to $717.2m, while gaming revenues fell 16% to $549.5m. Despite Rolling Chip volume rising 53% to $16.47b – the second highest tally on record – win rate was a woeful 2.14%, although that’s better than the 1.79% in Q3. Non-Rolling Chip drop fell 3.2% to $1.1b, while win rate held steady at 24.2%. Slot handle fell 2% to $2.69b, while hold remained constant at 5.4%. Total mass win per day fell 3.4% to $4.49m.
Stateside, LVS’ Nevada operations – the Venetian and the Palazzo – combined to produce $308.3m in net revenues, but just $87.9m was attributable to gaming. Table games drop fell 13.7% to $459.4m and hold fell from 17.9% to 12.7%. Slot handle was off 0.7% to $517.3m while hold was up 0.1 points to 8.9%. The soon-to-be-sold Sands Bethlehem‘s revenue profile was far closer to its Asian counterparts, with $108.8m of the $117.8m total (+12.2%) coming from gaming. Table games drop at the Pennsylvania casino rose 19% to $230.6m with a win rate of $15.8% (up from 14.7%). Slots handle rose 1.2% to $967.8m on a hold of 7.2%.
