Las Vegas Sands' Singapore casino on track for March open

The casino, operated by Las Vegas Sands, had been originally scheduled to open its doors by the end of 2009, but the date was put back to the first quarter of 2010. In an exclusive interview with CNBC, Adelson said delays to the launch of the us$ 5.5 billion casino complex were due to rain. “If we are a little late, it would be a couple of weeks, not months,” said Adelson. As Asia recovers from the recession, the casino resort in Singapore has been key for the Las Vegas Sands’ business, he added.

The Singapore project, the Marina Bay Sands, which was originally expected to cost around us$ 3.2 billion, has also suffered massive cost overruns. The chairman of the world’s No 2 casino operator also said the company could complete all its planned five projects on Macau’s Cotai strip within five years.

The firm - which raised us$ 2.5 billion from the listing of its Macau unit, Sands China, in late November - plans to build five properties on the Cotai strip, a swathe of reclaimed land some Macau developers have touted as the next Las Vegas strip. Those properties, including two that are halfway through construction, would complement two existing casinos in Macau, one of which is the Venetian Macau, the world's largest casino.

A second casino is being built by Genting Singapore, a unit of Malaysian enting Bhd, on the resort island on Sentosa. It is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2010.

Sands competes in Macau with Wynn Macau, Galaxy Entertainment Group, SJM Holdings, Melco Crown Entertainment and MGM Mirage. Adelson said he was confident of the market recovery as the nature of business would take its course. “Nothing keeps me awake at night because I believe in the cycle of business….and I got to make sure I’m prepared to go forward.”

Singapore is hoping the casinos will boost the number of visitors and benefit its retail sectors as well as flag carrier Singapore Airlines, the world's largest airline by market value.