Las Vegas Sands Q3 Results Beats Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), Wednesday reported an increase in profit for the third quarter, driven by strong performance of Sands China as gambling business in Macao, China, the world's biggest gambling market continues revival. Earnings for the quarter trumped Wall Street expectations, as did revenues.

Third-quarter profit rose to $570 million or $0.72 per share from $513 million or $0.65 per share last year.

Adjusted earnings decreased to $607 million or $0.77 per share from $562 million or $0.71 per share a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.68 per share.

Revenues for the quarter rose 7.7 percent to $3.41 billion from $2.97 billion in the prior year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.15 billion for the quarter.

"We are pleased to have delivered strong financial results again this quarter, led by growth in both Macao and Singapore. Our convention-based Integrated Resort business model remains the key driver of our financial results," said CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Revenues for Sands China increased 12.2 percent to $1.93 billion from $1.72 billion a year ago. Profit rose to 24.4 percent to $403 million.

Commenting on the Macao market, Adelson said that the market overall continues to recover, while Sands China's Massa nd VIP gaming volumes both outpaced the growth in the Macao market overall.

Macau is the only part of China where gambling is legal. Few years ago, casinos and gambling were booming there, however, the gambling environment later changed and gambling revenues dropped drastically hurt largely by an anti-corruption drive in China, that forced high rollers to cut back on gambling. However, lately gambling market in Macau has started to revive.

LVS closed Wednesday's trading at $62.91, down $0.24 or 0.38%, on the NYSE. The stock, however, gained $1.18 or 1.88% in the after-hours trading.