Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Associated Press file
The Venetian is shown on the Las Vegas Strip in this file photo.
Published Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 | 1:45 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 | 9:06 p.m.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. Financial Information
| 4Q 2009 | 4Q 2008 | % Change | 3Q 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.28 billion | $1.093 billion | 17.5% | $1.14 billion |
| Net income | ($113.9 million) | ($136.5 million) | N/A | ($123 million) |
| Net income per share | (17 cents) | (27 cents) | N/A | (19 cents) |
Sun Coverage
Las Vegas Sands Corp. today said its loss narrowed in the fourth quarter of 2009 thanks to strong business in China -- but the company also reported continued weakness at its Las Vegas Strip hotel-casinos.
The company lost $113.9 million or 17 cents per share vs. a loss in the year-ago quarter of $136.5 million or 27 cents. Quarterly revenue of $1.28 billion was up 17 thanks to strong results in Asia, where the company has casinos in the Chinese district of Macau and is preparing to open a big resort in Singapore.
Las Vegas Sands said the improved results reflect an increase in operating income and a decrease in interest expense, partially offset by a loss on the early retirement of debt, a smaller income tax benefit and increases in preferred stock dividends and accretion of preferred stock.
Like other Las Vegas Strip hotel-casino operators, Las Vegas Sands endured difficult times in 2009 as the recession deterred travel to the U.S. gaming capital.
"While our current quarter's results in Las Vegas reflect lower room and food and beverage revenues, principally because of less group business in Las Vegas, our gaming volumes have stabilized, and the execution of our cost savings programs has positioned us to deliver improved operating margins and cash flows as the economy and our group business recover. We believe 2010 will reflect a recovery in the group business in Las Vegas, as recent booking trends reflect increases compared to 2009,'' Chairman and Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson said in a statement.
In Las Vegas, the company called the results at its Venetian and Palazzo resorts with their 7,100 suites disappointing as quarterly net revenue tumbled $63.4 million or 19.4 percent year-to-year to $263.7 million.
The Las Vegas operations produced an operating loss of $15.7 million in the 2009 quarter vs. operating income in the 2008 quarter of $14.6 million.
Occupancy at the Venetian fell from 92 percent in the 2008 quarter to 78 percent in the 2009 quarter as the average daily room rate fell $10 to $193.
Similarly, the Palazzo saw occupancy fall from 96 percent to 85 percent and the average daily rate was down $13 to $204.
These numbers represent a deterioration from the third quarter, when occupancy was 89 percent at the Venetian and 88 percent at the Palazzo.
In a positive note, the company said of Las Vegas: ``Despite low table games hold and reduced room revenues, we saw demand for future group rooms continue to improve. We expect to realize significantly more group room nights in 2010 than the approximately 470,000 we realized in 2009.''
$193.00 and $204.00 dollar room rates at Sheldon's places in Vegas? I sincerely doubt. these quotes to be factual here..
methinks someone is cooking the books
The rates seem reasonable, but you can stay at the Wynn for that amount as well. LVS has over twice the amount of rooms as the Wynn. They need to try to get people out of the Wynn suites and across the street to their new tower...
environprotector. When they comp a very good player and give him a suite, the casino pays for the room. Somebody has to pay for it, right? They can deduct these expenses from the revenues and therefore save taxes. I am sure they have set these "rates" for the suites comped accordingly....
adelson issued himself a nice preferred stock dividend which gets almost no mention anywhere, and business in macau seems solid versus las vegas where things seem very, very weak. this is bad news for het, and mgm who are very heavy into las vegas--mgm 10 properties now?(9 or 10). If lvs can stay out of bankruptcy, they seem to be positioned better than mgm, and het for the future--asian gambling.
they say in earnings report, singapore first phase to open april something, this year---could be good for lvs.
I don't believe any resort's occupancy rate right now. Mandalay Bay was saying they were at 98% when they were really at 50%.
CityCenter was only at 50% when they opened, I'm sure MGM reported they were at 80% for the media.
I'm sure the Venetian/Palazzo is at 65% occupancy at best.
I do believe that Macau is making LVS money, but I also believe that the Strip is killing them right now.
We'll never get the truth. THAT, you can count on.
I'm a big fan of Palazzo/Venetian. They still pay 3:2 on blackjack, unlike the Harrahs properties. And they have better odds on proposition bets than Harrahs properties playing craps. They have great cocktail service. Beautiful rooms which are nicer and larger than Aria. Great restaurants. I'm sure we'll find somebody who is not a fan of the place but it's my favorite on the strip. It costs a little more but it's more than worth it.
i stayed at the pallazo my last 3-trips into vegas and loved the experience...the restaurants are top notch and casino personnel are honest unlike harrah's...
Now that they have stopped the bleeding, maybe they can finish what they started with the St. Regis Residences tower. The unfinished construction looks awful in the middle of the Strip.
Las Vegas Sun
Please don't just report on the topline #'s. Net Income is such a misleading factor, as debt and non-cash expenses such as depreciation and impairment charges get included, as well as the operations in Macau. If you really want to show the true financial picture for Vegas operations (which I assume is what local readers care most about), please talk about how their net revenue fell by $63M (not 63% as it says in the article) and 19%, and their profits fell by 37% to $57M. Talk about the fact that their slot volume fell by 31%. And then apply analysis based on the marketplace and previous YOY results to say if that is good, bad, etc. Simply repeating a press release doesn't give the whole picture to your readers.
Simply repeating a press release doesn't give the whole picture to your readers.
I hope the copy editors at LVS are mortified after reading your comments. Good job Tim1234!
Tim1234: Thanks for pointing out the issue with the net revenue, it's corrected. And we added the Las Vegas operating loss/income numbers for the '09 and '08 quarters. Tomorrow we're working on a full analysis of the LV Sands & MGM Mirage numbers.
lvdjlv - can you plese tell the rest of the class where you came up with your own occupancy numbers? Just curious. Thank you.