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AP
Las Vegas Sands to post 3Q earnings Monday
Monday November 10, 1:11 pm ET
By Oskar Garcia, Associated Press Writer
Las Vegas Sands to post third-quarter earnings after market closes Monday
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. is to report its third-quarter financial results after the market closes Monday. Below is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.
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OVERVIEW: Las Vegas Sands is a global casino operator run by billionaire Sheldon Adelson. It owns resorts in Las Vegas and the Chinese island gambling enclave of Macau, and it has developments under way in both those places as well as Pennsylvania and Singapore.
Those projects include: a $600 million high-rise condominium tower between the Venetian and Palazzo casino-resorts in Las Vegas, expected to open in 2009; a $600 million casino, hotel and restaurant complex in Bethlehem, Pa.; six resorts on the Cotai Strip in Macau that together will cost $12 billion; and a 2,700-room casino-hotel expected to open in Singapore in late 2009 at a cost of more than $4 billion. None of the projects is fully financed.
On Thursday, the company said it was in danger of not meeting obligations to its lenders on a $3.8 billion portion of its debt unless it can raise capital, cut spending on developments or lift its Las Vegas earnings by Dec. 31.
If it defaults, the company said it would have to suspend some or all of its development projects.
BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Las Vegas Sands to earn 11 cents per share on $1.16 billion in revenues, a 9 percent decrease from last year.
ANALYST TAKE: Robert LaFleur of Susquehanna Financial Group said in a note to investors Thursday that the market was "spooked" by Sands' update of its financial situation.
"Las Vegas Sands is another binary stock in our universe. It's either going to zero or it isn't," LaFleur wrote. "We're not going to bet against Sheldon and his billions."
"If the funding issues are resolved, the stock should move higher. If not, it goes to zero," he said. "Right now, we think there's a greater likelihood of resolution."
WHAT'S AHEAD: Investors will be looking for specifics on how the company plans to meet its debt obligations -- whether it plans to slash development spending, raise more capital or both. The company made a regulatory filing on Thursday that would allow it to sell more stock.
Also in question is whether Adelson, whose personal fortune is largely tied to company stock, will infuse Sands with capital himself. The company has said he is involved in a current effort with a financial adviser to raise capital.
"After Mr. Adelson reiterated on the last earnings call that Las Vegas Sands would not run into liquidity issues, we believe investors would be disappointed if he doesn't participate," Celeste Mellet Brown of Morgan Stanley told investors on Thursday. "If he does not, the company may have a very difficult time getting the financing completed given its debt load, and the stock could decline significantly."
STOCK PERFORMANCE: Las Vegas Sands' stock price has plummeted from its 52-week high of $122.96, ending Friday at $7.03. The shares closed the third quarter at $36.11.
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Billionaire set to unveil new Sands financing
By Assif Shameen in Singapore
maandag nov 10 2008 14:05
Billionaire Sheldon Adelson is expected to unveil a financing package as early as this week to help prop up Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) , his cash-strapped gaming empire, according to people familiar with the situation.
The auditor of the casino operator said last week that it had doubts about the company's ability to continue as a going concern.
Sands, the owner of the Venetian Hotel and Casino, is involved in $15bn-worth of new casino projects in Macao, Singapore and the US, and has accumulated nearly $9bn in debts.