Las Vegas Sands saw its Macau property portfolio roar back to life in the three months to 31 March 2023, with revenues more than doubling year-on-year to US$1.27 billion and Adjusted Property EBITDA climbing to US$398 million.
The result is a rapid improvement compared to the same quarter last year, when revenues for the company’s Macau subsidiary Sands China reached just US$547 million and Adjusted EBITDA was a US$11 million loss, and comes after the Macau and mainland Chinese governments dropped almost all remaining COVID-19 border restrictions on 8 January.
The Q1 result also signalled a major reversal over the December 2022 quarter when Sands China booked revenues of US$439 million and an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $51 million.
Net loss for Sands China was US$10 million, compared to a US$336 million loss in 1Q22 and US$348 million in 4Q22.
“In Macau, we were pleased to see the ongoing recovery now underway in all gaming and non-gaming segments accelerate during the quarter,” said LVS Chairman and CEO, Robert Goldstein.
“We remain deeply enthusiastic about the opportunity to continue our investments to enhance Macau’s tourism appeal to travelers from throughout the region, including to foreign visitors to Macau. Our decades-long commitment to making investments that enhance the business and leisure tourism appeal of Macau and support its development as a world center of business and leisure tourism positions us exceedingly well to deliver strong growth as visitation to the market increases and the recovery in travel and tourism spending proceeds.”
By property, The Venetian Macao saw its net revenues climb by 146% year-on-year to US$558 million, with Adjusted EBITDA climbing from US$19 million in 1Q22 to US$210 million. The Londoner Macao and The Parisian Macao also saw revenues more than double to US$283 million and US$174 million respectively, with The Londoner recording Adjusted EBITDA of US$56 million – reversing a US$33 million loss – and The Parisian Adjusted EBITDA of US$46 million, reversing a US$11 million EBITDA loss a year earlier.
Group-wide, LVS reported net revenues of US$2.12 billion for the March quarter, with net income from continuing operations climbing back into the black at US$145 million. The company had reported a US$478 million loss in the prior year quarter. Consolidated adjusted property EBITDA was US$792 million compared to US$110 million in 1Q22.
While Macau’s recovery significantly aided the results, they were also boosted by the performance of Marina Bay Sands (MBS) in Singapore where net revenues again more than doubled to US$848 million, including an all-time high in mass gaming revenue to US$549 million.
Adjusted Property EBITDA of US$394 million was 226% higher year-on-year and 44% higher than the December 2022 quarter.
“We were pleased to see the ongoing recovery at Marina Bay Sands progress during the quarter, with the property again delivering outstanding levels of performance in both mass gaming and tenant sales,” Goldstein said. “We remain energized by the opportunity to introduce our new suite product to more customers as airlift capacity continues to improve and the recovery in travel and tourism spending from China and the wider region continues.
“While travel restrictions and reduced visitation continued to impact our financial performance during the quarter, a robust recovery in travel and tourism spending across our markets is now underway.
“We remain enthusiastic about the opportunity to welcome more guests back to our properties throughout 2023 and in the years ahead.”
