Macau’s Sands Cotai Central will be rebranded The Londoner Macao as part of a rejuvenation plan that will see Sands China Ltd invest US$1.1 billion into two of its Cotai properties over the next three years.
The ambitious transformation, revealed in the company’s 3Q17 earnings announcement released early Thursday local time, aims at transforming Sands Cotai Central into another “destination resort” on the Cotai Strip in line with Sands China’s iconic Venetian Macao and Parisian Macao.
“We see tremendous future opportunity in the Macau market as it continues to grow and evolve,” said Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. “We are therefore extremely excited to announce that we will invest over US$1.1 billion in new capital projects over the next three years in Macau, at Sands Cotai Central and the Four Seasons Hotel Macao.
“The bulk of that investment will accomplish the expansion, renovation and rebranding of Sands Cotai Central into a new destination integrated resort, The Londoner Macao. The Londoner Macao will feature dynamic new attractions and features from London including some of London’s most recognizable landmarks, an expanded and reimagined retail mall and 350 luxurious new suites, the St Regis Tower Suites.
“We will also be expanding the Four Seasons Hotel Macao by opening an additional 295 new suites in a separate tower, The Four Seasons Hotel Tower Suites.”
Sands China Ltd reported net revenues on a GAAP basis of US$1.93 billion for 3Q17, up 12.2% year-on-year from US$1.72 billion in the third quarter of 2016, with net income rising 24.4% to US$403 million.
The results were driven by improved performance at The Parisian Macao, where net revenue grew 15.8% to US$418 million including a 17.7% increase in casino revenue to US$379 million. Adjusted property EBITDA grew 27.4% to US$135 million.
The Venetian Macao saw a 7.1% decline, however, to US$718 million including a 7.9% fall in casino revenues to US$617 million and Adjusted property EBITDA of US$263 million.
Sands China Ltd said that there were 8% fewer rooms at the Venetian Macao in 3Q17 compared to the same period in 2016 but added its non-rolling chip drop increased 10.4% to US$1.89 billion.
Parent company Las Vegas Sands reported company-wide revenue for the quarter of US$3.2 billion, up 7.7% on US$2.97 billion in 3Q16, with net income up 13.0% to US$685 million.
Its results included a 4.1% increase in net revenue at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands to US$793 million, with Adjusted property EBITDA up 13.0% to US$442 million.
Discussing the company’s Macau results, Mr Adelson said, “The market continues to recover, while Sands China’s Mass and VIP gaming volumes both outpaced the growth in the Macau market overall. That strong gaming performance, coupled with higher hotel occupancy and retail mall revenues, helped drive an adjusted property EBITDA performance of US$652 million, our best quarterly result since the first quarter of 2014.
“Strong visitation at The Parisian Macao continued to contribute to impressive growth in all segments … now clearly established as a ‘must-see’ destination for visitors to the Cotai Strip, The Parisian delivered sequential growth in visitation, hotel occupancy, ADR and gaming volumes, while mass win per day of US$2.58 million was the highest result since the property’s opening last year. We expect The Parisian to deliver continued growth in the years ahead as we further align the property’s suite of offerings to appeal to every segment of the evolving Macau market.
“As we continue to make market-leading investments in our integrated resort offerings in Macau, we will also continue to lead in the marketing of Macau throughout China and the region as Asia’s leading business and leisure tourism destination. We remain confident that our Cotai Strip property portfolio will continue to deliver important benefits to Macau in the form of economic diversification, greater numbers of business and leisure travelers and a superior platform for growth in the years ahead.”
