Sands China reports revenue of US$771m for Q1

Sands China has seen revenue start to recover, with the premium-mass segment reaching half pre-Covid-19 levels.

Macau.- Casino operator Sands China Ltd has reported figures for the first quarter showing net revenue of US$771m, a 5 per cent year-on-year decline compared to the first quarter of 2020 but a 15.1 per cent increase from revenue of US$675m in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Sands China also reached a property EBITDA of US$100m, up 49.3 per cent compared to the previous quarter when the figure was US$47m.

The quarter made a net loss of US$213m, compared to a loss of US$166m in the same quarter in 2020, but an improvement when compared to the US$246m loss reported in the fourth quarter.

The numbers benefited from an upturn in Macau’s tourism sector, which has started to show signs of recovery, welcoming an average of 27,120 visitors per day between March 20 and March 26.

According to Grant Chum Kwan Lock, the company’s chief operating officer (COO), Sands China’s premium mass segment has already reached almost 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels with revenue at US$336m in the first quarter.

Except for the Parisian Macau, which posted revenue of US$59m during the first three months of the year, the rest of Sands China’s Macau casinos reported higher revenue than in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Robert Goldstein, Las Vegas Sands chairman and chief executive, has said that the group is open to investing in non-gaming ventures in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).

He said Sands China will invest in the region if the Macau government wants that as the group plans “to be there for the long term and reinvest there.”