Newly expanded casino hits jackpot third quarter with 21pc profit increase to US$97.3m on high-stakes wins
Las Vegas Sands Corp's recently expanded Macau casino said sales leapt 39.8 per cent to a record US$335.6 million during the third quarter, helping boost the company's profit in the three months ended September by 21 per cent to US$97.25 million from US$80 million a year earlier.
Estimated earnings after tax and commissions on VIP gaming at the Sands Macao rocketed 55 per cent over the previous quarter and more than doubled from a year ago to a record US$55 million. One reason: The house won an unusually high percentage of the high-stakes bets wagered in the casino, Las Vegas Sands executive vice-president Brad Stone said yesterday in a conference call with investors.
Turnover per table declined during the quarter as the result of a US$99 million expansion unveiled in August that added 273 mainly low-bet tables and raised the total number to 740, more than any other casino in the world. The average gaming win per table per day fell 13.8 per cent from a year ago and 17.3 per cent from the previous quarter to US$6,420.
Despite new competition from the US$1.2 billion Wynn Macau casino resort, which opened September 6, president and chief operating officer William Weidner said the company's overall share of the Macau market held steady at 21 per cent.
The company yesterday said that it recently broke ground on a US$100 million, 39-storey hotel tower catering exclusively to high-stakes gamblers. The facility, scheduled for completion in the third quarter of next year, will operate under the company's VIP Paiza brand and increase accommodation for high rollers to 290 rooms from the current 50.