LVS Chairman Disappointed With Slot Recovery of Macau Gaming Market
Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced earlier this year that it was selling its Las Vegas casino properties as it wanted to focus on the Asian gaming market which has produced the bulk of the operator’s gross gaming revenues. The biggest market for Sands Corp. has been Macau which is the biggest gambling hub in the world.
Robert Goldstein, chairman and CEO of Sands Corp. recently opened up about the company’s plans and shared his views at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference which was held online. Goldstein admitted that he was rather disappointed with the pace at which Macau’s gaming market was recovering.
Goldstein took over as the chairman and CEO of Sands Corp. after Sheldon Adelson passed away in January 2021. Adelson for the most part would always speak positive of Macau’s gaming market even when things were not going so well. Goldstein has a different approach and is calling it the way he sees it.
Goldstein said that while it was disappointing to see the slow recovery in Macau, he understood that current restrictions do not allow the gaming market to bounce back. The Macau government has taken a very stringent stance on COVID-19 and have very strong travel restrictions in place as they have a zero tolerance policy towards COVID.
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Visitor levels in Macau during the first quarter of 2021 were on average 16 percent of what they were during the first quarter of 2019. The mass market gambling numbers for the first quarter of 2021 were on average 38 percent of what the mass market generated in the first quarter of 2019.
While Goldstein admitted to being disappointed, he quickly stated that he was confident that Macau’s gaming market would bounce back in the long run. Goldstein also confirmed that Sands Corp. had not fully exited the U.S. market as they are keen on establishing a presence in Texas, whenever the Lonestar state decides to legalize casino gambling.
Discussions To Take Place With Singapore Gov.
Sands Corp. has seen its revenues plummet in Asia due to the coronavirus pandemic. Their iconic Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore has also struggled financially as travel restrictions have made it difficult for both locals and international tourists to visit the casino resort and spend their money.
Sands Corp. had earlier promised to invest $3.4 billion to expand and revamp Marina Bay Sands but with declining revenues, the operator will now look to hold talks with the Singapore government and possibly scale down those figures for now.
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