Las Vegas Sands leads casinos higher on signs of Macau recovery

SHARES for casino operators with Macau locations were among the best performing in post-market trading after earnings from Las Vegas Sands signalled the return of Chinese gamblers to the region.

“A robust recovery in travel and tourism spending across our markets is now underway,” chief executive officer Robert Goldstein said in a statement on Wednesday (Apr 19).

Las Vegas Sands reported positive adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation at each of its Macau locations for the first time since 2019. A recovery in Macau spending is likely to benefit the company more than its peers, as Sands had 38 per cent of sales there in 2022, compared with 20 per cent for Wynn Resorts and 5 per cent for MGM Resorts International, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Brian Egger wrote in a note before the earnings release.

Las Vegas Sands witnessed a recovery in all gaming and non-gaming segments during the first quarter. Overall, adjusted property Ebitda rose more than sevenfold in the period to US$792 million from US$110 million in the prior year.

Fellow casino operators Caesars Entertainment, Wynn and MGM Resorts joined Las Vegas Sands among the best performing stocks in after-hours trading following Sands’s results. BLOOMBERG