HIGHER casino net revenue drove Marina Bay Sands’ (MBS) top-line growth for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023, and also led to higher property earnings.
Adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 99.3 per cent on the year to a record US$544 million from US$273 million. The last high was recorded in Q1 2018 at US$541.1 million, based on Bloomberg data.
Net revenue for the Singapore integrated resort came in at US$1.1 billion, up 55.6 per cent from the US$682 million recorded in the previous corresponding period, parent company Las Vegas Sands (LVS) reported on Wednesday (Jan 24).
MBS’ casino net revenue grew 84.3 per cent to US$741 million from US$402 million the year before. The segment maintained its position as the largest revenue contributor for the quarter.
LVS noted a strong recovery in mass gaming revenue, which hit a record US$583 million for the quarter. Rolling volume stood at US$7.2 billion.
Revenue from rooms grew 18.2 per cent to US$117 million from US$99 million, along with improvements in other segments, as recovery in travel and tourism spending at MBS continued during the quarter.
Hotel occupancy dropped 3.9 percentage points year on year to 94.4 per cent in Q4, from 98.3 per cent previously.
The average daily rate, however, rose to US$647 from US$550 in the same period the year before. This resulted in revenue per available room of US$611 compared with US$541.
On a group level, MBS accounted for 36.4 per cent of LVS’ net revenue, and 45.4 per cent of its adjusted property Ebitda. Adjusted property Ebitda margin for Q4 2023 stood at 51.3 per cent, compared with 40 per cent in Q4 2022.
LVS’ net revenue stood at US$2.9 billion for the quarter, up 161 per cent year on year. Adjusted property Ebitda, meanwhile, jumped to US$1.2 billion from US$222 million in Q4 2022.
The Q4 results bring the group’s full-year net revenue to US$10.3 billion, up 152.4 per cent from the US$4.1 billion recorded in 2022. Adjusted property Ebitda stood at US$4.1 billion for the full year, a jump from the US$732 million recorded in the year-ago period.
MBS’ results could mean a positive surprise for competitor Genting Singapore’s Q4 performance, said CGS-CIMB in a research note on Thursday.
It expects the Singapore-listed integrated resort operator to report a lower adjusted Ebitda, as it had previously projected a lower VIP volume due to outbound travel by VIP gamers in Singapore during the quarter – a trend observed over the past two years.
“We had also expected a quarter-on-quarter decline in non-gaming revenues as a result, but better room inventory management could support quarter-on-quarter growth in non-gaming revenues, in our view.”
The research team estimated an 8.1 per cent rise in adjusted Ebitda to S$276.8 million in Q4 for Genting Singapore, supported by a rise in international visitor arrivals during the period.
It has reiterated its “add” recommendation on the counter, with a target price of S$1.30. Shares of Genting Singapore : G13 -0.51% were trading flat at S$0.98 as at 4.12 pm on Thursday.
Source: The Business Times
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