Singapore casino drives Las Vegas Sands' results

Las Vegas Sands reported net income of us$ 271 million in the quarter that ended December 31, which translated to 34 cents a share. A year ago, the company lost us$ 113.9 million, or 17 cents a share, in the fourth quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated the company would earn 38 cents a share.

Net revenue grew 56.9 % in the quarter to us$ 2.02 billion, compared with us$ 1.28 billion a year ago. Las Vegas Sands net revenue was us$ 6.85 billion for the year, a 50 % increase from us$ 4.56 billion in 2009.

The Marina Bay Sands, one of two casinos in Singapore, had net revenues of us$ 560.4 million in the last three months of 2010, which translated into cash flow of us$ 305.8 million.

Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson said the results in Singapore were significant because portions of the resort were still under construction in the last part of the year. Marina Bay Sands is really still in its infancy. We are extremely pleased with the property's results and its position in the market," Adelson said. "The Singapore market is still emerging and as we near the completion of our property's original master plan, the market is all but certain to grow."

While Singapore continued to increase, half of the Las Vegas Sands' revenues came from its three resorts in Macau. The Sands Macau, Venetian Macau and Four Seasons Macau collected revenues of us$ 1.09 billion in the fourth quarter, an increase of 13.1 %. Macau also accounted for us$ 213.3 million of the company's net income in the quarter, almost 78 % of the total.

Adelson reminded listeners on the company's fourth-quarter conference call that Macau, which was a us$ 3.5 billion-a-year gaming market in 2003, had gaming revenues of us$ 23.5 billion in 2010. "Nobody, and I mean nobody, would have predicted that in a span of seven years it would be four times the size of Las Vegas," Adelson said. "Early estimates on the size of the market in Singapore have clearly been conservative as well."

Las Vegas Sands reported earnings after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where shares of the company increased 85 cents, or 1.72 %, to close at us$ 50.28. The company's stock price was down almost 6 percent in after-hours trading.

KDP Advisors gaming analyst Barbara Cappaert noted the aftermarket downward trend. "(The stock) was likely priced to perfection given the excitement over the numbers coming out of Singapore since the third quarter," Cappaert said. "We expect momentum in Asia to dominate the company's outlook, but we would not count out a modest recovery in Las Vegas in 2011."

In Las Vegas, net revenues at The Venetian and Palazzo grew 16.5 % to us$ 310.6 million in the quarter. The company's casino in Bethlehem, Pa., had a revenue increase of 45 % in the quarter to us$ 83.4 million, thanks in large part to the addition of table games at the casino.