Sands China posts net loss of US$336m for Q1
Sands China’s financial results for the first quarter of the year show it returned to negative adjusted EBITDA.
Macau.- Sands China Ltd has reported a net loss of -US$336m for the first quarter. It reported an adjusted real estate EBITDA loss of -US$11m for Q1 compared with a positive US$100m in the first quarter of 2021.
Total net income declined to US$547m. Net revenue from Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands fell to US$399m, down from US$426m in the first quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA for the property was US$121m, compared to US$144m in the same period in 2021.
However, thanks to the sale of its Las Vegas operation, the company reported a US$2.53bn profit in the three months, which compares to a US$278m loss in Q1 2021. Its net loss from continuing operations was US$478m, compared to US$280m in Q1 2021.
Robert Goldstein, Las Vegas Sands CEO, said: “While pandemic-related restrictions continued to impact our financial results this quarter, we were able to generate positive EBITDA at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, and for the company as a whole.”
He then stated: “We remain enthusiastic about the opportunity to welcome more guests back to our properties as greater volumes of visitors are eventually able to travel to Macau and Singapore.”
Wilfred Wong Ying Wai, president of Sands China, has recently revealed that the company has dismissed more than 3,000 non-local employees since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also said the company’s investments in non-emergency construction projects will be delayed if the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues.
Marina Bay Sands could reach EBITDA of US$1bn in 2022, Goldstein says
Las Vegas Sands Corp expects EBITDA from its Marina Bay Sands integrated resort in Singapore to reach US$1bn by the end of 2022. During a conference call, Goldstein said Marina Bay Sands was seeing growth from all segments of the market.
Goldstein said: “Macau is in a difficult place right now. So, people are going to gravitate to other opportunities. They want to travel … I think our Marina Bay Sands product is in a very, very unique opportunistic window here.”
The Singapore National Tourism Board executive director Keith Tan told a forum in Manila that Singapore aims to remove all Covid-19 test requirements for fully vaccinated tourists within the next few weeks.
Goldstein added that Las Vegas Sands is still “resolving questions” regarding its S$4.5bn (US$3.31bn) expansion plan at Marina Bay Sands. In 2019, Las Vegas Sands had committed to invest S$4.5bn (US$3.3bn) in the expansion of the Marina Bay Sands hotel within eight years. However, the project was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Separately, the company has started a US$1bn renovation project at Marina Bay Sands, which is scheduled to be completed in phases in 2022 and 2023.
The Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore has confirmed that Marina Bay Sands has complied with the requirements of Singapore’s Casino Control Act and has been granted an extension of its licence for three years from April 26, 2022. The extension had been delayed due to changes to Singapore’s gaming legislation.
Resorts World Sentosa in Genting received its licence extension in February, also extending to 2025.
