Targeting mass players
Buoyed by the recovery of Macau’s gaming industry, the Las Vegas Sands Corp. will renovate its properties on the Cotai Strip and rebrand Sands Cotai Central as the Londoner Macao. The Four Seasons Macao will get 295 new suites in a separate tower.
“While we have invested over $13 billion in Macau since 2002, we see tremendous future opportunity in the market as it continues to grow and evolve,” said Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson in a statement.
According to Bloomberg News, with the city’s historic downturn now in the rearview mirror, overall gaming revenue in the region rose 22 percent to 67 billion patacas (US$8.34 billion) in the third quarter. The city has seen a return of VIP players as newer resorts such as Sands’ Parisian target mass gamblers.
Sands saw its third-quarter profits rise to 77 cents per share, clearing analysts’ 68-cent average estimates. In addition, sales were up 7.7 percent to $3.2 billion, exceeding Wall Street projections of $3.13 billion.
Reuters reports that Sands Cotai Central has been one of the company’s weaker properties compared to the Italian-themed Venetian or the new Parisian, with its faux Eiffel Tower.
Another motivation for Sands may be the looming deadline for license expirations, which will start in 2020. The central and local governments have ordered Macau’s casino operators to diversify their attractions beyond gaming to create a more resilient economy; the industry now accounts for more than 80 percent of government revenues.
