Majestic Research

CasinoGamblingWeb.com

Venetian Macau Casino Costs Las Vegas Sands Second Quarter Profit

By Tom Jones
Published: July 31, 2008

Every casino company in the world is feeling the effects of a struggling economy in the United States. The largest company in the world, however, the Las Vegas Sands Corp. is facing losses thanks to the gambling mecca, Macau.

The company announced that they have taken a loss in the second quarter of this year. They are attributing the loss directly to the costs of running the Palazzo in Las Vegas and the Venetian Macau.

The company took a loss of two cents a share which translates into an $8.8 million loss. That figure is a big decrease from last year when the Sands Corp. had a $34.4 million profit.

“In Macau, Las Vegas Sands is going after both the mass market in a big way, but also the VIP customers. The mass market side of the business is going to take a while to grow,” said analyst Matthew Jacob with Majestic Research LLC in New York.

Another major reason that Sands took a loss in the second quarter was interest expenses. The loans that were taken out for casino projects in Las Vegas, Singapore, and Macau had interest payments that were made during the second quarter.

Even though they have posted a loss, the company is moving forward with plans to borrow more money to complete various projects.