博彩资讯：拉斯维加斯金沙集团豪赌亚洲博彩市场(3)

老船长

译文：

　　As befits the head of one of the world’s biggest casino operators, Sheldon Adelson likes a punt. Last year, the chief executive of Las Vegas Sands placed a multibillion- dollar treble on the future of Asian gaming. With two legs completed, the bet is looking good. But Mr Adelson may yet stumble before the finish line.

　　Las Vegas Sands spotted the potential of Asian gambling nearly a decade ago, when the former Portuguese territory of Macao, now a special administrative region of China, opened its centuries-old gaming market to foreign companies.

　　By 2008, Las Vegas Sands had two casino resorts operating in the territory – the only location in China where gaming is legal. But the company had loaded up on debt to pay for the building spree. When revenues collapsed during the global financial crisis it was briefly in danger of going bankrupt.

　　In the first leg of his treble, Mr Adelson poured in $1bn of his own cash to stabilise the company’s finances. The gamble paid off. Talk of bankruptcy receded, and the company bought time for a $2.1bn share sale in the US and the $2.5bn Hong Kong listing of Sands China, which runs the Macao casinos. The second leg was Mr Adelson’s decision to press on with the $5.5bn Marina Bay Sands casino resort in Singapore, one of two casino projects approved by the island state in 2005. It was a brave call. Many thought Singapore too small to support two casinos, arguing that if they succeeded it would only be by diverting Chinese customers from Macao, effectively cannibalising the company’s revenues there. To cap it all, the complex was delayed by engineering problems and came in 50 per cent over the original $3.6bn budget.

　　Last week, that gamble paid off too. In its third-quarter results announcement, which included the first full quarter of operations at Marina Bay Sands, LVS said the Singapore property had generated the highest quarterly adjusted earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation of any property in the company’s history. It also had the highest margins, on the same basis. LVS shares surged 10 per cent to $45.25 after the announcement, up from a low of $1.38 in March last year. Not surprisingly, Mr Adelson said he was “incredibly pleased” by the outcome.