Las Vegas Sands Beats Estimates on Macau, Singapore Strength

(Bloomberg) -- Las Vegas Sands Corp., the casino operator controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, said first-quarter sales and profit rose as the company’s newest casino in Macau continued to draw gamblers and results in Singapore soared.

Sands, which is based in Las Vegas, reported profit rose to $1.04 a share, excluding some items, beating the 85-cent average of analysts’ estimates. Sales grew 17 percent to $3.58 billion, exceeding projections of $3.36 billion.

The world’s largest casino company is benefiting from a surge in betting in Macau following the opening of several new resorts. Sands’ newest property, the Parisian, debuted in September 2016. Overall casino revenue in Macau grew 22 percent in the first quarter.

In Macau, where Sands has multiple properties, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 26 percent to $789 million, ahead of the $717.2 million average calculated by Consensus Metrix. Earnings in Singapore grew 49 percent on that basis.

Sands shares rose 2.3 percent to $74 in extended trading. They fell 2 percent to $72.34 at the close in New York and are up 4.1 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at cpalmeri1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum, Virginia Van Natta

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