Las Vegas Sands Profit Misses Estimate As Macau Revenue Slips

(RTTNews) - Casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS), Wednesday reported a weaker-than-expected increase in third-quarter profit, due to a decline in revenue from some of its operations in Macau.

The company announced an additional $2 billion to buyback shares as well as a 30 percent increase in recurring dividend for 2015 calendar year to $2.60 per share.

Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson said that while the operating environment in Macao, especially in the rolling segment, proved challenging during the quarter, the company benefited from the mass and non-gaming focused operations in the region.

Macau overall has been a boon for casino operators such as Las Vegas Sands and smaller rival Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN), as customers throng the casinos for table games and slotting machines. But a crackdown on corruption in China has somewhat kept off prospective gamblers.

Las Vegas Sands' quarterly earnings climbed 7.2 percent to $671.7 million or $0.83 per share from $626.7 million or $0.76 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $675.7 million or $0.84 per share, compared with $681.3 million or $0.82 per share a year ago.

On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.85 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the third quarter were $3.53 billion compared with $3.57 billion in the prior year. Seventeen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.68 billion for the quarter.

The company's China operations -Sands China Ltd - encompasses four properties, and revenue at this operations edged down 0.4 percent from last year to $2.33 billion.

Within Macau, revenue at its key Venetian Macau operations rose 0.8 percent and Sands Cotai operations climbed 10.8 percent. But revenue at Four Seasons Hotel Macao and Plaza Casino operations slid 19.6 percent and Sands Macau operations fell 8.3 percent.

Revenue at the company's Las Vegas operations rose 1.5 percent from a year ago, while Singapore operations, Marina Bay Sands, slid 5 percent.

Revenue for Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania rose 3.6 percent.

LVS closed Wednesday at $60.32, up $0.71 or 1.19%, on a volume of 10.7 million shares on the NYSE. In after hours, the stock gained $0.93 or 1.54% at $61.25.