Las Vegas Sands Shares Gain Following Q2 Results

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS surged over 4 percent in after-hours trading after the company reported results for its second quarter. The Las Vegas, Nevada-based company reported a quarterly profit of $469.2 million, or $0.59 per share, compared to $671.4 million, or $0.83 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, the company's earnings slipped to $0.60 per share from $0.85 per share. Its net revenue dropped 19.4 percent year-over-year to $2.92 billion from $3.62 billion. However, analysts were projecting a profit of $0.61 per share on revenue of $2.99 billion. The average estimate among 47 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.60 per share and revenue of $2.97 billion. Consolidated adjusted property EBITDA slipped 22.6 percent to $1.02 billion in the second quarter. Its operating income in the second quarter dropped 28.3 percent to $689.3 million from $961.5 million. Its revenue at the Sands China business dipped around 25.6 percent to $1.77 billion, while net income fell 37.3 percent to $388.7 million. During the quarter, Las Vegas Sands paid a recurring quarterly dividend of $0.65 per common share, a 30 percent rise versus the year-ago quarter. As of June 30, 2015, unrestricted cash balances were $2.82 billion and total debt outstanding, including the current portion, was $9.82 billion. Mr. Sheldon G. Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer, said, "While the operating environment in Macao, particularly in the high-end gaming segments, remained challenging during the quarter, our focus on the higher margin mass and non-gaming segments and the geographic diversification of our cash flows allowed us to again deliver in excess of one billion U.S. dollars of Adjusted Property EBITDA during the quarter and weather this cyclical downturn better than the industry overall. Despite the current headwinds in the Macao market, we remain sharply focused on the consistent execution of our global growth strategy, which leverages the power of our unique convention-based Integrated Resort business model." Las Vegas Sands shares climbed 4.64 percent to $57.51 in the after-hours trading session.