In-line quarter after adjusting for Singapore low hold. Management very bullish on Macau
CONF CALL NOTES
- 4.6 million visits to Sands China, 40% increase YoY
- 2Q Macau VIP RC share 17.4% vs 14.8% year ago
- Venetian Macau leads in Macau visitation
- Sands Cotai Central visitation (40,000 visits per day) increased 142% YoY
- Parisian Macau substructure under construction; based on timely govt approvals, timing for opening is late 2015
- Korea still has potential
- Madrid - still need govt approvals and finalization of land grants
Q & A
Macau
- SCC ramp up: big driver was mass business; cross-traffic between SCC and Venetian continues to build;
- SCC hotel occ lower yoy: as they get more retail, occupancy should increase
- Four Seasons condo sales: lining up project mgmt and sales team; no further govt approvals needed
- Consumer trends: going in right direction; macro concerns in China not affecting Macau
- Junket operators extending credit? Does not believe strong VIP growth is driven by credit
- Mass table yields: flattish even as number of mass tables increases; will keep on adding mass tables
- Slot ETG yields declining as number of ETGs decline; still believe $1BN ETG market as an aggregate
- Four Seasons: transitionary period; moving into premium-mass, direct play business
- Better infrastructure driving Macau visitation growth; excited about HK-Zhuhai-Macau bridge
- Labor shortages? No.
Singapore
- Low Singapore hold %: 5th quarter below 'average' - no concerns about that; will go back to 2.85% over time
- VIP Volume: $1MM bets are contributing to the strong volume; still same source of customers (mainly Mainland China/Hong Kong);
- Slot ETG: govt more restrictive of local play; have been challenging (less S'pore visitation offset by more visitation by Mainland Chinese, Indonesian); remains confident there will be some growth there
Other
- Las Vegas needs to grow ADR, optimistic on 2014; gaming dependent on high-end Asian players; slot/table businesses have been 'mediocre'
- CZR has been undercutting LVS, WYNN in room rates
- CFO search: in final stages
- Japan: gaming bill will be submitted in November; there may be a limit where the casino has to be built in two years