Earlier this year, Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) was denied land rights to an expansion project on Macau. The land, called Parcels 7 and 8, was part of a larger project on which the company had already spent more than $100 million. Today, the Sands China unit said that the company received an extension to its expansion on the “Parcel 3” part of the project. The extension allows the company until 2016 to complete the expansion of its Venetian Macao property.
Las Vegas Sands, along with Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL), Wynn Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: WYNN) and MGM Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MGM), are among the U.S. listed companies with large casino/resorts on the island and its Cotai Strip, the Macau version of the Las Vegas Strip.
The loss of the land rights to Parcels 7 and 8 cost the company about $10.5 million, but today’s ruling saved Sands about $96.5 million that it already has invested in the resort and casino expansion. However, the government will impose an unspecified fine for the construction delay.
Expansion projects aside, though, the higher hurdle for all the operators remains the Chinese government’s visa restrictions and the imposition of credit card spending limits on visitors to Macau.
Shares of Las Vegas Sands are up about 0.5% in pre-market activity this morning, at $39.76 in a 52-week range of $36.08 to $62.09.
Paul Ausick
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks