In preparation for LVS's Q4 earnings release tomorrow, we’ve put together the recent pertinent forward looking company commentary.
INTERIM DIVIDEND SANDS CHINA (1/30/2012)
- Interim dividend of HK$0.58 per share payable to shareholders who own shares as of Feb 20. The interim dividend will be paid on Feb 28.
VOLUNTARY ANNOUNCEMENT SANDS CHINA (12/18/2012)
- Sands received confirmation from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) that the investigation has been concluded and that no further action will be taken against the Company at this time.
YOUTUBE FROM Q3 2011 CONFERENCE CALL
Macau
- “As I mentioned in the opening, we have an aggressive plan for the Plaza moving forward, beginning with the addition of two new leading VIP operators opening there in the next couple of weeks.”
- “It's about another seven months before it's fully implemented. It goes throughout the first quarter and second quarter. But the answer is, it's happening. We're very comfortable with our relationships. We're very comfortable with our deals. We're fully sold out on all or our five, six opportunities.”
- “I've heard the word cannibalization over the last several years. But I have not seen a single instance of one property cannibalizing the other. Period. We were hoping to cannibalize, and I think we've cannibalized a lot of the properties on the Peninsula, with my idea about the Cotai Strip and Asia's Las Vegas.”
- “We will be opening the first 1,800 rooms, which is a 1,200 room Holiday Inn and a 600 room Conrad by Hilton, at the end of the first quarter. At the end of the third quarter, the first Sheraton tower of 2,000 rooms will also open in the end of the third quarter '12. And then at the first quarter of '13, as we've said before in previous calls, we'll open the last tower, the last 2,000 rooms at the Sheraton.”
- “If you take out Cotai Central, our existing capital (maintenance) spend annually is going to be in the vicinity of about $400 million.”“And then from a project standpoint, we're probably close to about $1.2 billion.”
- “The bulk of that obviously is Sands Cotai Central, and then we've got some retainage payments obviously to make on Marina Bay Sands.”
- “I think it's [margin] sustainable on our current business model in the casino, but hopefully it will go down significantly as we grow a lot more junket business, which as you know is much slimmer margins. But I think when you look at some of the numbers that Galaxy and Wynn, our competitors, have thrown off in that segment, I'd rather have more EBITDA and less margin because we've left behind some dollars there.”
- “When you look at kind of what we recorded at reserves for the quarter, it's actually very consistent, both on a quarter-over-quarter basis, year-over-year, if you will, and also on a sequential basis. So, really not much change in that regard. And our percentages with regard to the reserves against the outstanding balances have stayed relatively flat, doing a great job collecting. And there's really been no need to kind of change what we have been doing.”
Singapore
- [Increase in VIP volumes] “It's a number of customers coming out of mainland China. It continues to be more important to Singapore, so does Hong Kong. There is some play out of Singapore itself, mostly PR play. Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, all important. But clearly the strength of that rim business resides in mainland China, whether it be mainland Chinese themselves living in mainland, or having a second home in Singapore."
- “Year-to-date our hold percentage is 2.82%.”
- [Mass] “We are holding in the 22, 23 range, which speaks to the customers' willingness to gamble and sit at the table, and the drop's increasing considerably. The good news from our perspective is that's mostly a tourist customer. I would say the majority of our business comes out of a non-rated side, which is a wonderful customer, both into the margin and consistency. We're fortunate in having tens of thousands of hotel rooms in the neighborhood that feed that market. It's tourist driven.”
- “Visitation is relatively flat, Shaun, between the second quarter and the third quarter into the casino. But visitation to the property continues to increase and will continue to increase, as you bring more folks into the area with the trains coming first quarter next year.”
- “The [Marina Bay] MRT stop, which is Q1 '12; and the cruise terminal Q2 '12; the gardens, the base 2012; eventually be a Singapore sports hub – are unique opportunities to continue to grow this mass slot and table business.”
- “On the slot machines, obviously we're capped by government regulation. We run at very high utilization, probably the highest I've ever seen. On weekends and holidays, we get into the 80s. In my mind that's pretty much, you can't get a whole lot higher. So, these machines the next year we do, let's say, $700 million. This is the highest numbers in the industry, so clearly we have high capacity and high usage.”
Pennsylvania
- “The property's new outlet stores will begin previews early next week ahead of a February grand opening. We expect traffic from the retail stores, the 300 room hotel which opened in May, and the forthcoming Event Center to provide a continued increase in our gaming revenue there.”
