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Las Vegas Sands lays off 283 workers
Friday, March 27, 2009 | 5:55 p.m.
The Palazzo on the Las Vegas Strip.
Beyond the Sun
Layoffs forced 283 people out of work today at Las Vegas Sands Corp. in Las Vegas.
Ron Reese, spokesman for the company, said the affected employees worked in the corporate offices as well as the Venetian and Palazzo resorts on the Strip. He said nearly 7,000 full-time equivalent positions remain in Las Vegas.
The layoffs are part of a broad cost-reduction effort at the company, Reese said. Like many of its competitors, Las Vegas Sands faces huge interest costs because of its massive debt load -- $10.4 billion -- at a time when business at its resorts has been hurt by the recession.
Still, Las Vegas Sands is working toward the May 22 opening of its $778 million Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in Pennsylvania. That project, 70 miles from New York City, will have 3,000 slot machines. Also under construction is a $5.4 billion resort in Singapore due to open at the end of the year.
The company's stock rose this week as investors learned of another potential cost-cutting strategy. Sands executives said they are considering refinancing some of the debt by buying back about $800 million in bank loans.
Sands stock closed Friday at $3.14, up 2 cents. In the fourth quarter, the company lost $111.3 million, though revenue rose 4.3 percent to $1.9 billion.
Sun Archives
- Third executive leaving Las Vegas Sands (3-24-2009)
- Sands not so adored in Macau these days (3-23-2009)
- Sands president begins early, earning base of $2 million (3-17-2009)
- Las Vegas Sands replaces president (3-9-2009)
- Las Vegas Sands faces third shareholder lawsuit (2-18-2009)
- Las Vegas Sands swings to loss in fourth quarter (2-11-2009)
- Las Vegas Sands directors hit with shareholder lawsuit (1-28-2009)
- Las Vegas Sands: A big rise, a big fall (1-18-2009)
Discussion: 27 comments so far…
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Thanks Obama!
I went to Palazzo and at the bar they charged like $16 for one drink. I will NEVER go back. Greedy and there are better options.
Thanks! George Bush! You and your party drove this country of the cliff. Eight years of looking the other way while the banks took advantage of people to create the biggest economic disaster of my generation. Deregulation, Deregulation, Deregulation. After eight years of the Patriot Act not one terrorist caught, however 350 million Americans where spied on by the government. Thanks George Bush the worst president this country as ever seen.
I'll bet most of the were FOB---friends of bill or brad...
And LasVegas2009, you are an idiot. Obama will clearly be the worst president. He's making a great start toward that dubious goal. He'll overtake Carter within his first year!
Hey there, LasVegas2009! There are only about 300 million people in the USA, are you making the claim that 50 million yet unborn Americans were spied upon? You are entitled to your opinions, but get your numbers right, or you just sound ignorant compounded by your underlying stupidity.
Rather pathetic of all you to blame one person for the economic mess this country is in.
What about the people who bought homes they couldn't afford or speculated on housing? As if housing is an investment. A house is a place to live.
Then are those who maxed their credit cards, bought expensive cars, gambled themselves to debt.
If this country wants to blame someone for the mess it's in, this country needs to look in the damn mirror!
That Palazzo is an eyesore. It's too damn tall.
At least Steve Wynn has the talent to put up buildings that have nice eye appeal.
The Palazzo just seems like a copy of something else.
IMO, Implode it.
the palazzo is one of the most beautiful casinos in las vegas and is busy every night..the casino is full most of the time...the problem is that all monies made are going to open other properties...and the regulation of fannie and freddie was shot down under bill clintons admin..mostly thanks to maxine waters...she and her cohorts said it was well run and didnt need regulation...by the way a fellow african american was in charge of the program...by suggesting regulation of fannie and freddie 2 republicans congressmen were accused of a public lynching by a fellow african american congressmen...but bush didnt fix the problem either...obama is trying his best to turn us into a socialist country...he will fail...and he will spend more monies than all other presidents combined....
Can't believe I'm actually agreeing with LV2009. Bush was rated the 7th worst president of all time in a Time Mag article. Worse than Jimmy Carter, which almost seems impossible. Bush-8 years of incompetence. "Way to go, Brownie".
Adjustable rate mortgages where not even and option until Ronald Regan signed them into law. Before then when you got a mortgage it was at a fixed rate and nothing else. As far as the 350 million I was counting the 50 million illegals that walked across the border during George Bush's watch. It seems he continued to fail at every thing that happened. He failed to warn or prevent 9/11 even though they had info of and attack with planes flying into the World Trade Center. He failed once again at leadership when Huricane Katrina hit. The response was shameful and even his supporters felt he missed on that. Then the economy our current crisis that he only helped by preaching DEREGULATION! Oh Lets not forget invading a country (IRAQ) with made up intel (WMD'S). If I didnt know better I would think that all the bad things Bush did or didnt respond to is an act of Terrorism but most know it was cause he was just a dumb screw up. Oh and as far as the Socialism comment Bush is the one who started that as well. He was the one that said we had to bail out AIG and the other banks. That was last year.
bullmoose556:
United States -- Population: 303,824,640 (July 2008 est.)
Illegal aliens 39,133,142
in the U.S.
Illegal aliens in the 863,146
U.S. since Jan. 1
Those are the illegals we know about and dont forget the estimated 1.37 million homeless people.
Looks more like 350 million than 300 million to me maybe you need a math class! Stupid Redumblican!
"vegas is recession proof".
just keep saying that over and over again and things will get better.
people...even rich people...get tired of being nickel and dimed every 10 feet in vegas.
$8.00 for a corona is just stupid.
I was talking to a co-worker last night. We were talking about the good old days when there were no big corporations controlling the Strip. It's when the so-called "mob" ran the places. These casinos were found and paid in full with money nobody knows where it came from. Fact was, the casinos were paid and generated huges profits. It may be questionable of all monies have ever been taxed correctly, but that's a different story. Anyway, the point is that with all the big debt loads and the revenues shrinking it's really difficult for the corporations to remain profitable. LVS has a super project in Singapore which I have been following up in the news since the breaking ground. However, what good is a super project and more other super projects in the rest of the world if the expenses are simply too high? A Mercedes is a nice car, for sure, but what good is a Mercedes if you can't pay the leasing cost and the insurance bill? The Venetian and the Palazzo may be full every single night. The casino floor may be packed. But what good is it if the revenues are not sufficient to pay all dues? As ridiculous as it sound, but I think that the small casinos in Vegas are not affected much by the downturn of this economy. Could also be that Boyd stopped its progress of construction at the Echelon site at the right moment and therefore keeps itsel in business. The El Cortez Casino in Downtoan, although many people may laugh about it, is a true jewel and deseves being mentioned. What you get down there is unique, and the hospitality is something I wouldn't want to miss when get to Vegas. Too bad though, that many people avoid Downtown for other reasons and this district has suffered so much over the years. Now, however, I see great chances that these casinos may live a revival because they don't have the high debt/asset ratio and therefore have a chance to stay in business without waving the white chapter 11 flag. I tell you what: I will gladly spend 300 dollars or so at the El Cortez, where I expect to get a much higher return for my play than on any other casino on the Strip. If there are enough other Vegas friends like me around, then Downtown Vegas will have a chance for the future. Otherwise I'm afraid the city will go through rough 5 years at least.
From Switzerland
vegas has turned into nothing short of a joke! people go home from there trip here and rave about how a beer was 16.00 bucks, they lost there shorts faster than expected,and paid 300 bucks for a bed and shower! ya i can see the droves just comeing..................
LV2009, You will be pleased to see "illegal immigrant" numbers continue to fall, by name change alone. They will all be referred to as "migrant workers", see how easy that is.
Much like "terrorism" is no longer an issue. The new term is "man made disaster". The problems with this country are getting easier to solve than we had thought.
Nothing better than those small chicken salads at the sports book which now cost $12.99.
Neocon war lover, Sheldon Adelson, probably made sure his wallet was full!
Tannsummers...
What does Obama have to do with ANYTHING involving the Sands layoff?
Again, if people are so unhappy in Vegas, LEAVE!!! Why on earth would you stay in a place so damned miserable?!?!?!?
"The layoffs are part of a broad cost-reduction effort at the company, Reese said. Like many of its competitors, Las Vegas Sands faces huge interest costs because of its massive debt load -- $10.4 billion -- at a time when business at its resorts has been hurt by the recession."
Only in the United States of America, can discusions like these take place. I too hate to pay 12.00 or 16.00 bucks for a beer but take the good for the bad and be happy you live in the good old USA
Txtea, that's GREAT you like to pay $12.00 for a beer. PLEASE come to Vegas as often as possible. We need suckers like you.
Hey there LasVegas2009, do you pluck your numbers out of where your head seems to be? The population of the USA of 300 million[approximately] includes the illegals and the homeless; I believe your claimed numbers are as bogus as your hairpiece; even so, even if they were all correct, the total still comes up well short of your ignorant claims. I passed my Math class at Western High School some years back, I bet you are still studying hard so as to retake your GED. Righto? You know I'm right, don't you?
A good idea would be to close down every odd hotel floor until this "recession" is over. The casinos would remain in operation but with less traffic. On the other hand, this won't work out as the banks who gave all the money to the casino corporations do not want to freeze the loans they gave to them. That's why bankrupcty is inevitable in my eyes. The new ownwers with less debt load may survive, but MGM Mirage, Harrahs', Station Casinos and LVS are all walking on dire straights, my friends.
From Switzerland
sorry for the miss-writing. I mean...dire straits , of course ;)
Wow. Just wow. Do most of you realize just how idiotic you sound? Bashing each other just for being on the other side? Blaming Obama or Bush or anyone else politically is just stupid. All we need to complete this conversation is for neiman1 to offer up his weekly berating of Harry Reid and how we need to do more oil drilling. Would make as much sense as most of these posts.
What the majority of you fail to realize is that what's going on is just the ugly byproduct of a capitalistic society. In most capitalistic economies, most of the regulations and profits are made by those with the money. The real problem with that though is that there are ineveitable pullbacks from time to time because nothing goes straight-line up forever, and those who are last to the party are usually left holding the tab.
The entire issue has less to do with politics than it does with intelligence. The corporations that are in trouble now are the ones who failed to understand that things were peaking out and built upon paper assets. Paper is useless unless you can turn it in for something at the end of the day. It's their own fault and they should have to figure out their own way out of it. Bad credit decisions are not new. It's just that the magnitude of them lately is unprecedented.
The issue is simple. Las Vegas priced itself too high for most people, and is way over-built for its market. Pullback and closures are really the only things that can straighten out the disparity between supply and demand. It's just a shame that so many of these companies are run by bean counters who have zero 'feel' for the clientele and customers.
What made Vegas great in the 60's and 70's was the wiseguys running the show knew what it took for you to drop your $400 and still enjoy yourself. Nowadays you're just another pig heading to slaughter. The faster they seperate you from your money, the faster they can get the next sucker in to take your place. All I can say is good luck to them now that that doesn't work so well. And good luck to all you good people that got caught in the crossfire of corporate greed and horrific business decision making.
Boris,
I'm with you, Downtown does have a lot to offer for your buck and, whether imagined or real, I seem to get to play longer for my money. The Strip corporations don't seem to understand that we don't expect to win a fortune, but we do want to play for a while.
harske,
I think you hit the point and analized the situation prefectly. During the boom years the casinos couldn't be big enough, and with every other "bigger" hotel, the service quality went down a bit. It's only logical. How in the world would you like to serve 5000 or 10,000 hotel guests at a "A"-level at all times? It's simply impossible. Compare this to a football event with 50,000 spectators. It's just a mess in the stadium.
Well, the bigger the casinos became, the more expensive, and the bigger the debt load. Now that the revenues are shrinking, debts can't be paid in order. We have learned this already. Chapter II or Bankruptcy is the only possible solution for many of these opterators.
When you said in the 70s when the "wise guys" ran this place, I also have to admit that this was the time when I fell in love with the city. I remember when we were offered great funbooks, not just gimmicks like today. And when there was money on the floor. I oftentimes picked up nickels from the corners of the floor that nobody would see. It was just fun just to put them back into the slots. I was too young for legal gambling by then, but sometimes they would let me do it.
Another point is the huge growth of the entire city. Call it "over population"? What do all these people do now? Let's take a look of the Summerlin area.How many people live there who "generate" something? What's the Vegas industry without gaming? A lot of people will have difficulties to find a job if casinos have to cut back and reduce their offer. After all it will help saving water resources of Lake Mead, but it will not put up the action as it used to be between 2004 and 2007. As I see it, the Echelon "graveyard" will not be completed for many years. They might just as well put it all down and build a nice movie film studio there or the like. Vegas could use a film studio now that the gaming industry is suffering....
From Switzerland