Las Vegas Sands’ (LVS) expansion projects are right on track. Sands’ Chief Executive Officer, Sheldon Adelson, expects to complete its Macau casino expansion projects within a period of 5 years. Its Singapore casino resort project should open by the end of March 2010.
The $5.5 billion Singapore casino project was initially scheduled to open by the fourth quarter of 2009. However, due to the lack of sand (for concrete) and workers, the project was rescheduled for a March opening. The cost of this project exceeded the initial estimate of around $3.2 billion. Adelson, however, mentioned that if the Singapore project gets delayed, it would only be for a couple weeks — not months.
Sands’ plan is to construct 5 properties on Macau’s Cotai strip. Of the 5 projects, two are half-constructed. The company was compelled to halt its expansion projects in Macau last year due to financial constraints. However, the company raised $2.5 billion by listing publicly its Macau unit, Sands China, last month.
Adelson said that the projects would be completed within 5 years, depending on the pace of approvals obtained by the company from the government. Phase one of the two half-completed projects is expected to open by June 2011. The company will infuse around $500 million more in the project, sourcing it from funds raised from the Sands China initial public offering.
After the completion of the projects, the Cotai strip will have over 20,000 hotel rooms, meetings and convention space of over 1.6 million square feet, with retail malls spreading over 2 million square feet.
Sands, whose competitors include Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and MGM Mirage (MGM), is investing billions for expansion in Asia and especially in Macau. We believe that going forward, this robust development pipeline positions the company well in Asia’s casino market.
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