MARINA Bay Sands (MBS) integrated resort has broken quarterly
profit records for its owner, United States gaming giant Las Vegas
Sands Corp (LVS).
In its first full quarter of operations, ended Sept 30, MBS
contributed US$242 million of LVS' overall third quarter pre-tax
profits of US$645.2 million. LVS said on Thursday it now believes
that MBS can contribute a staggering US$2 billion in pre-tax
profits in 2012.
In a statement, LVS said the latest MBS bottomline was the
highest adjusted quarterly pre-tax profit for any property 'in the
history of our company'.
It was also a record in terms of profit margin, with profits
making up nearly half of MBS' revenue of US$486 million - a rare
event in the business world. LVS' total revenue was US$1.9 billion,
which was also a record.
The MBS quarterly profits were 255 per cent higher than the
US$94.5 million it made in the previous quarter, though it opened
only in late April, so it was not a full quarter.
'That is a good performance considering that MBS suffers from a
low hotel occupancy rate, but pre-tax earnings are definitely on
the high side of my estimates of about US$200 million,' said an
equity analyst in Singapore who declined to be named.
-- ST