MARINA Bay Sands (MBS) saw its net revenue fall 9.5 per cent to US$919 million for the third quarter ended September 2024, down from US$1 billion the previous year.
Adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) declined 17.3 per cent year on year to US$406 million from US$491 million.
The group attributed this to lower-than-expected hold on rolling play, which had a negative impact on its performance this quarter.
In the casino industry, “hold” refers to the portion of wagers that is retained by the business.
The Las Vegas Sands’ (LVS) integrated resort in Singapore experienced a decline in top-line revenue from its casino and mall segments, while that from food and beverage as well as rooms stayed flat.
The casino segment, while still the largest revenue contributor, saw a 14 per cent decrease, dropping to US$600 million in the recent quarter from US$698 million in Q3 FY2023. Additionally, rolling chip volume fell 19.5 per cent to US$6.6 billion, from US$8.1 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
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Revenue from rooms at MBS remained unchanged year on year at US$125 million, even though hotel occupancy dipped by 1.6 percentage points to 94.7 per cent in the latest quarter.
The average daily rate climbed up to US$903 from US$681 in the year-ago quarter, resulting in revenue per available room of US$855 compared with US$656 a year earlier.
MBS’ Ebitda margin for Q3 FY2024 fell 4.2 percentage points to 44.2 per cent.
Nonetheless, on Wednesday (Oct 23), LVS chairman and chief executive Robert Goldstein said that MBS “continued to deliver outstanding financial and operating performance” despite the negative impact of lower-than-expected hold.
“Although our reported financial results for the quarter reflected lower than expected hold in Singapore and the impact of disruption from our ongoing development work at the Londoner in Macao, we continued to execute our strategic objectives during the quarter,” he added.
At the group level, LVS remained profitable in its third fiscal quarter, even though its net income fell 27.6 per cent to US$275 million this recent quarter from US$380 million in Q3 FY2023. Net revenue stood at US$2.68 billion for Q3, representing a 4.3 per cent decrease from US$2.8 billion in the previous year.
Adjusted property Ebitda came in at US$991 million, falling 11.5 per cent from US$1.1 billion in the same period a year ago.
LVS’ capital expenditures for Q3 totalled US$539 million, with nearly 40 per cent or US$215 million, going into construction, development, and maintenance activities at MBS.
