Macau casino operator Sands China Ltd (SCL) saw a 3.6 percent quarter-on-quarter gain in adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the three months to December 31.

Such EBITDA was US$654 million versus US$631 million in the third quarter, according to a Wednesday filing and corporate presentation by the parent Las Vegas Sands Corp. The latest figure was still below – by about 19 percent – the US$811 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Low hold on rolling play in Macao negatively impacted adjusted property EBITDA by US$40 million,” the U.S.-based firm stated.

Net income for Sands China in the October to December period was US$288 million, up 24.7 percent quarter-on-quarter. The latest quarter compared to a net loss of US$348 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, a period that was negatively impacted by restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sands China’s fourth-quarter net revenue rose 4.1 percent quarter-on-quarter, to US$1.86 billion.

The firm posted net income of US$696 million in 2023, compared to a net loss of US$1.58 billion in 2022. Net revenue for the 12-month period stood at S$6.53 billion, a jump of more than 300 percent in year-on-year terms.

Sands China runs a number of Cotai resorts, including: the Venetian Macao, the Parisian Macao (pictured), and the Londoner Macao. It also operates casino hotel Sands Macao on the city’s peninsula.

CLSA Ltd said in a note commenting on Sands China’s fourth quarter results that the casino operator’s performance on a luck- adjusted basis was “in line” with market consensus. The brokerage added that Sands China’s overall property EBITDA margin was flat quarter-on-quarter at 35.1 percent.

Among the Sands China portfolio, Jefferies Hong Kong Ltd said that The Londoner Macao had been the property generating the highest sequential fourth-quarter growth, at 14 percent quarter-on-quarter to US$190 million. “But The Venetian remains the [casino resort with the] highest earnings and margins amongst the different properties, at US$302 million EBITDA (up 4 percent quarter-on-quarter, with 40.4 percent margin, close to historical peak margin of 40.5 percent.

The Macau operation’s non-rolling table win was $1.42 billion, or circa 97 percent of fourth quarter 2019, the group said in the presentation issued with the results. Rolling table volume in the three months to December 31 was US$6.0 billion, circa 40 percent of fourth quarter 2019.

Sands China’s slot win stood at US$163 million, surpassing by circa 1 percent the figure of fourth quarter 2019.

Marina Bay Sands benefitted from hold

At Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, also run by Las Vegas Sands, the quarterly adjusted property EBITDA rose 10.8 percent sequentially, to US$$544 million, and a margin of 51.3 percent.

“High hold on rolling play at Marina Bay Sands positively impacted adjusted property EBITDA by US$71 million,” the parent said.

Net revenues at Marina Bay Sands stood at just over US$1.06 billion, up 4.5 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Full-2023 total net revenues for Marina Bay Sands increased 53.0 percent, to US$3.85 billion, compared to 2022.

The Singapore operation’s non-rolling table win was US$356 million, circa 132 percent of fourth-quarter 2019, according to the Las Vegas Sands’ earnings presentation. Rolling volume was $7.2 billion, about 91 percent of fourth-quarter 2019.

Slot win for the period stood at US$$227 million, circa 136 percent of fourth-quarter 2019.

“We were extremely pleased with our financial and operating results for the quarter, which reflect the ongoing improvement in the operating environment in both Macao and Singapore,” said Robert Goldstein, Las Vegas Sands chairman and chief executive, as cited in a Wednesday press release.

“In Macao, the ongoing recovery across all segments continued during the quarter,” added Mr Goldstein.

“We repurchased US$505 million Las Vegas Sands shares under our share repurchase programme during the quarter,” added the executive.

Las Vegas Sands announced a US$2-billion stock repurchase programme during its third quarter earnings call in mid-October. Patrick Dumont, the group’s president and chief operating officer, said at the time that the company would favour stock repurchases rather than dividends as a way of returning value to shareholders.

The U.S.-based firm also has plans to increase its shareholding in Sands China by about 1.19 percent, as announced in December.

“We entered into an agreement during the [fourth] quarter to purchase approximately US$250 million of Sands China stock, which, upon settlement of the agreement, is expected to increase our ownership interest in Sands China,” saidn Mr Goldstein, as quoted in Wednesday’s release.

Las Vegas Sands currently owns approximately 70 percent of the issued share capital of Hong Kong-listed Sands China.

The Las Vegas Sands group as a whole posted net revenue of US$2.92 billion and net income of US$382 million in the fourth quarter. That compared respectively with the US$2.80 billion net revenue and US$449 million net income recorded in the third quarter.

Full-year 2023 operating income for Las Vegas Sands was $2.31 billion, compared to an operating loss of US$792 million in 2022. Net income from continuing operation for the 12 months ended December 31, 2023 was US$1.43 billion: this compared to a net loss of US$1.54 billion in 2022.