Las Vegas Sands results beat Wall Street estimates on March demand

By Doyinsola Oladipo

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Las Vegas Sands Corp on Wednesday reported quarterly revenue that surpassed Wall Street estimates as March visitation levels accelerated gaming volumes, retail sales and hotel occupancy.

The Las Vegas-based casino operator said traffic is rebounding in Singapore and Macao, and it expects further improvement in travel and tourism spending from China and Hong Kong as airline and ferry capacity rebounds.

Shares of the casino operator rose about 5% in trading after the bell.

"While travel restrictions and reduced visitation continued to impact our financial performance during the quarter, a robust recovery in travel and tourism spending across our markets is now underway," Las Vegas Sands Chief Executive Officer Robert Goldstein said in a press release.

The company told investors that Macao's overall visitations citywide were up 22% in March compared to the first 2 months of 2023. Visitation levels are still trending at about 40% of 2019 levels.

Ongoing labor constraints continue to impact hotel room availability as 31% of hotels remain out of service in Macao. The company expects levels to rebound significantly by the third quarter in time for summer holiday season.

The casino operator's revenue rose to $2.1 billion in the first quarter from $943 million a year earlier, which surpassed analysts' average estimate of $1.8 billion.

Las Vegas Sands earned an adjusted 19 cents per share in the quarter, compared with analysts' expectations for 20 cents per share, according to Refinitiv data.

WYNN Resort and MGM Resort International shares were up 3% and 2% respectively after hours trading.

(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Diane Craft)