By Tess Stynes
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) said its first-quarter earnings fell
34% on continued pressures from a slowdown in Macau.
Shares fell 3.4% to $54.50 in recent after-hours trading as the
results missed expectations.
A corruption crackdown and weakening economy on the mainland
have cut into business in Macau, the only place in China where
casinos are legal. Casino operators including Las Vegas Sands have
been re-evaluating costs amid the pressures on their revenue and
margins.
Las Vegas Sands, which has four casinos in Macau, said the Sands
China business reported net revenue slumped 35% to $1.77 billion.
Segment net income dropped 54% to $344.7 million.
Overall, Las Vegas Sands reported a profit of $511.9 million, or
64 cents a share, down from $776.2 million, or 95 cents a share, a
year earlier. Excluding pre-opening expenses and other items,
per-share earnings fell to 66 cents from 98 cents. Revenue dropped
25% to $3.01 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of
71 cents and revenue of $3.2 billion.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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