Las Vegas Sands is hopeful of a return to some normality in its Asian markets by end of the summer, but has warned that its Marina Bay Sands property in Singapore could be more affected by social distancing measures than its Macau casinos.
Sands reported a first-quarter net loss of US$51m with net income of US$744m. GGR slumped to US$1.78bn from US$3.65bn a year earlier. It is hopeful of a recovery by late summer but believes space restrictions in Singapore could impact recovery there.
Sheldon G. Adelson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our business has been unprecedented, and I have never seen anything like it in my over seventy years in business. Our greatest priority during this difficult time remains our deep commitment to supporting our team members and to helping those in need in each of our local communities of Macau, Singapore and Las Vegas.”
“Despite these circumstances, our balance sheet strength will enable us to emerge from this pandemic with all our promising future growth opportunities fully intact. We remain extremely optimistic about an eventual recovery of travel and tourism spending across our markets, as well as our future growth prospects. We are fortunate that our financial strength will allow us to continue to execute our previously announced capital expenditure programs in both Macao and Singapore, while continuing to pursue growth opportunities in new markets.”
He was adamant that previously announced investment in Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and The Londoner in Macau would remain unaffected. “Our optimism about an eventual recovery, coupled with our financial strength enables us to continue the execution of our previously announced capital investment programs in both Macao and Singapore,” he explained.
“We believe these investments will strengthen our leadership position in each of these markets and will provide a larger platform for future growth with travel and tourism spending eventually recovering,” Adelson concluded.
Source: GMB
