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Earnings Call: Q1 2022

Apr 27, 2022

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Sands First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen only mode, but we will open the floor for your questions and comments following the presentation. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Mr. Daniel Briggs, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations at Sands. Sir, the floor is yours.

Daniel Briggs
SVP of Investor Relations, Las Vegas Sands

Thank you, Paul. Joining the call today are Rob Goldstein, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Patrick Dumont, our President and Chief Operating Officer. Also joining are Dr. Wilfred Wong, President of Sands China, and Grant Chum, Chief Operating Officer of Sands China. Today's conference call will contain forward-looking statements that we are making under the safe harbor provision of federal securities laws. The company's actual results could differ materially from the anticipated results in those forward-looking statements. In addition, we may discuss non-GAAP measures. A definition and a reconciliation of each of these measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures is included in the press release. We have posted supplementary earnings slides on our investor relations website. We may refer to those slides during the Q&A portion of the call.

Finally, for those who would like to participate in the Q&A session, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up, so we might allow everyone with interest the opportunity to participate. Please note that this presentation is being recorded. With that, I'll turn the call over to Rob.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Thanks, Dan. Good afternoon and good morning to our colleagues in Asia. Some brief comments, then we'll go to Q&A. Our results continue to reflect the pandemic's impact, the travel restrictions, suppressed visitation, our financial results in both Macao and Singapore this quarter. We did generate positive EBITDA for the quarter in Singapore and for the company in total. The good news in Singapore is that travel corridors established last quarter have been replaced with an introduction of the Vaccinated Travel Framework, which allows vaccinated travelers to enter Singapore in much the same way as prior to the pandemic. In short terms, we are open for business in Singapore. Our conviction in long-term opportunity in the Singapore market remains steadfast. The billion-dollar capital investment currently underway at MBS will introduce luxurious new suite product and amenities at that resort. In Macao, our considerable investments in Londoner are nearing completion.

As the market recovers, Four Seasons Londoner will provide growth opportunities in both the premium and mass customer segments. We continue to have the largest footprint in the Macao marketplace, and we appreciate the opportunity to provide input in the public consultation process. We look forward to participating in the retendering process as well. While the current quarter results in Macao were impacted severely by the enhanced travel restrictions in China, customer demand and spending in Macao have proven resilient at the premium mass level from both a gaming and retail perspective in periods when the restrictions have been relaxed. We remain confident that we will return to positive cash flow in both Macao and Singapore in the future as restrictions are eased and travel and tourism recover. We consider our portfolio of resorts in Asia to be a standing platform for growth for the years ahead.

In addition, we continue to pursue opportunities to develop large-scale resorts in both the United States and Asia. The sale of Las Vegas was completed this quarter, which creates additional liquidity and optionality. Lastly, we've continued to build out our digital presence and to explore multiple opportunities. We will provide additional color at the appropriate time. Let's go to your questions. Questions?

Daniel Briggs
SVP of Investor Relations, Las Vegas Sands

Paul, we're ready to go to questions. Thanks.

Operator

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. The floor is now open for questions. If you would like to enter the queue to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad now. If listening on speakerphone today, please pick up your handset to provide optimum sound quality. Also, we ask each participant to limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. Please hold a moment while we poll for questions. The first question is coming from Joe Greff from JP Morgan. Joe, your line is live.

Joe Greff
Managing Director, JPMorgan

Hello, everyone. Thank you for taking my question. Rob, love to get a little bit more detail on the recent experience in Singapore, with the VTL framework, and you know, can you tell us or share with us, you know, business volumes, visitation improvements, you know, in March and April to date? When we kind of look at the first quarter and you know, looking at the $121 million of hold, normalized EBITDA, you know, how much of that was sort of the last month of the quarter, you know, given the benefits from more international inbound tourism?

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Yeah, Joe, it's a fair question. The quarter MBS was clearly driven. It moved upward as we went along. It started $17 million in January, went to $46 million in February. We had $58 million of EBITDA in March, and that trajectory is continuing. The momentum is going upward in April. I think, look, Singapore is back, and it will experience the same post-COVID numbers we've seen in the U.S., in my opinion. The question is, you know, how fast does it get there? The demand is there. It will continue, assuming there's no more surprises from the COVID situation. We like to think that Singapore can return to a billion-dollar run rate in this year. So $58 million in March feels pretty good, and that momentum is continuing.

Joe Greff
Managing Director, JPMorgan

Great. That's helpful. Can't believe I'm not gonna follow up with a Macao-related question, but I just want to make sure I ask. Can you talk about Thailand and sort of that as an integrated resort opportunity and what the latest is there? I know there have been press reports with, you know, your efforts in that as an opportunity.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Yeah, I think it's premature, Joe, and we're looking at a lot of different things in Asia, and that's certainly on a list of things. I think it's premature to get ahead of ourselves there. I'll pass on that.

Joe Greff
Managing Director, JPMorgan

Great. Thank you, guys.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Sure.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is coming from Stephen Grambling from Goldman Sachs. Stephen, your line is live.

Stephen Grambling
VP, Goldman Sachs

Hey, thank you. Maybe sticking with new development opportunities. There's obviously been a lot of back and forth in New York, specifically New York City, different boroughs, even seeing some headlines around Times Square. Just curious, you know, what you're seeing there, how we should think about that as an opportunity.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Well, New York's been on our radar for a long time. We continue to be in the hunt there. I don't wanna get into specific boroughs, locations, because I think that's proprietary, but you know, we remain interested. I think it's a huge market for us. We've been very clear about that in the past. The process, you know, there's quite a long way to go, and we'll just keep you posted as we hear and learn things. We're in the hunt, and we'll see how it works out for us.

Stephen Grambling
VP, Goldman Sachs

You did mention, you'll discuss digital when the time is right, and they obviously say patience is a virtue, which has clearly paid off looking at some of these stocks. As you think about the opportunity set, in front of you, has anything changed in terms of your thinking of what areas of the industry might be more or less interesting to dig into even before considering where the investment might end up?

Patrick Dumont
President and COO, Las Vegas Sands

It's Patrick. Hey, Joe. I think nothing's really changed in our view. We take a very long-term perspective on digital. I think our comments have been pretty consistent across the quarters. We're really in a growth and investment stage, so it's very early on, and when we have something to talk about, we'll definitely start discussing it. But at this point, it's very early stage. We're building a team and looking forward to the future.

Stephen Grambling
VP, Goldman Sachs

Awesome. Maybe one last one if I can sneak it in then. Since the development opportunities feel like they're still pushed out and you've gotten some proceeds in from Vegas, I think you maybe even mentioned this in the remarks, but just remind us in terms of thinking about capital allocation priorities. I mean, is buyback something that's on the table or that you'd be thinking about with some of those proceeds, or do you feel like there's enough other things to spend the money on in the near term? Thank you.

Patrick Dumont
President and COO, Las Vegas Sands

No problem. You know, this is a question that I think we get pretty often. You know, I'll refer to the answers that we gave in our last quarterly call. I think the key thing to take away is we're very focused on new development. The sale of Las Vegas was really to reinvest capital in high-growth opportunities that we think are unique to our company. We feel very strongly about our development capabilities and our ability to execute large-scale developments in new markets, and we think there's a lot of them out there, a lot of potential. We're waiting to see which ones come forward and, as Rob said, where we can invest to get the highest returns.

In terms of return of capital, I think we've always said that the dividend is really the cornerstone of our return of capital program. It's something that we want to look at in terms of really long-term operational cash flow growth, and then we'll size it accordingly and look to that to recur before we actually start the dividend again. In terms of share repurchases, we've always said we've been opportunistic to return capital that way as well. If you look at our past, we've actually returned a fair amount of capital through share repurchases when we felt that we had the excess liquidity. I think at this point, our priority is make sure we get out of the pandemic, make sure we have ample liquidity and a protected balance sheet to ensure that we recover from our pandemic operations.

We can support our local host market, support our team members as we go through that process. We're gonna focus on new development and growth and investment in our existing markets, which we've been doing throughout the pandemic. We'll look to restart the dividend as operating cash flows recover. Lastly, I think we'll look at share repurchases when the opportunities arise.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Let's not forget that we are investing $1 billion currently in Singapore. We're trying to invest more in Singapore, and we think Macau, when things reopen, might be opportunistic as well. People forget how much capital we could put to work in our existing marketplaces.

Stephen Grambling
VP, Goldman Sachs

Fair enough. Makes sense. Thanks so much.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is coming from Shaun Kelley from Bank of America. Shaun, your line is live.

Shaun Kelley
Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Hi, good afternoon, everyone. Just maybe to actually touch on Macau for a minute. You know, Rob, there have been some fits and starts as it relates to the reopening in, you know, Hong Kong, and I think some positive progress there as case counts have come down. Any signposts maybe out of that market and maybe reconnecting that with Macau that the local team could give us some color on?

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Sure. Grant, are you on the call?

Grant Chum
COO, Sands China

Yes. Good morning. Good afternoon. Yeah, thank you for the question. Yeah, I mean, at this stage, there is no new information or news in terms of quarantine-free travel from Hong Kong to Macau. I think Hong Kong cases have been improved, but we're not at the point where there's any change in the quarantine policy.

Shaun Kelley
Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Grant, maybe just to clarify, is that specifically as it relates to its interaction with Macau, or what about for visitors coming from overseas, possibly opening up a corridor to Singapore? Maybe help us think a little bit more broadly, if you could.

Grant Chum
COO, Sands China

I'm sorry. Are you referring to overseas visitors from going where?

Shaun Kelley
Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Yeah, from either I think arriving in Hong Kong and then, you know, I guess coming in from inbound places or leaving Hong Kong going to places like Singapore.

Grant Chum
COO, Sands China

Sorry, you're asking a question about people going to Singapore or to Macau?

Shaun Kelley
Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Well, specifically talking about, is there any sign that Hong Kong is loosening up its overall visitation policy? Because it's been pretty closed from the external perspective. I guess that's where I'm trying to go.

Grant Chum
COO, Sands China

Sorry. You're asking about Hong Kong? Yes, they have relaxed. Non-residents can now travel to Hong Kong from the first of May, and that hasn't been possible for some time. You can go to Hong Kong from next month overseas into Hong Kong, but you will still have to be subject to the quarantine policy once you enter Hong Kong.

Shaun Kelley
Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Understood. Thank you very much.

Grant Chum
COO, Sands China

Thank you. Bye.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Grant.

Operator

Thank you.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

You have something more to say, Grant? I would cut you off. Do you have more to say? No?

Grant Chum
COO, Sands China

No, that's it. Thanks, Will.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Okay. Thank you. Next question, please.

Operator

Next question is coming from Robin Farley from UBS. Robin, your line is live.

Robin Farley
Managing Director, UBS

Great. Thanks. I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about Singapore and any change in, you know, the composition of business there in terms of what's coming back. Is it more mass? Is it more VIP? Is it a higher win per visitor than what you saw before or just more, you know, absolute number of visitors? Just kind of what are you seeing sort of come back first? Thanks.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

The answer is yes. It's all coming back. I mean, the demand over there. In the month of March, we saw outsized demand from, you know, free independent travelers on the pure leisure side. We saw premium mass. We saw high-end play coming out of over the rim. I just think Singapore is a unique position. It's obviously. Macau is in a difficult place right now, so people are gonna gravitate to other opportunities. They wanna travel. They're no different than what we've seen here in the U.S. I think our MBS products are in a very, very unique opportunistic window here. We're hoping Macau opens up obviously sooner, but until it does, I think you'll see a lot more demand than typical, and I think it's from all segments.

The team there is feeling very good about what happened in the month of March, and again, it's leisure travel, it's casino, it's VIP casino, it's premium mass casino, it's mass casino. It's universal, and it feels like we're in the middle of a very positive beginning, and hopefully without a COVID interruption or change in policy, I believe MBS is going to have a very productive 2022.

Robin Farley
Managing Director, UBS

Oh, great. Thanks. My follow-up question is about you had an announcement a week or two ago about, you know, it's probably a small investment, and I think it was sort of an integrity related business for online sports betting, and I wonder if you could just talk about that because it seems like there are some B2B online sports companies that already sort of provide that, you know, kind of for free as part of their services between the leagues and the sports books. I wonder if you could talk about, you know, what interested you in that angle or what's different about that than kind of what's offered, you know, almost for free really by the other OSB B2B providers. Thanks.

Patrick Dumont
President and COO, Las Vegas Sands

Sure. It's Patrick. I think what you'll see over time is us make investments in small companies where we think they have a competitive advantage in a B2B space that has a lot of growth potential, and also where we think over time we may form into a larger platform. From our standpoint, we're looking at a variety of different businesses that are in start-up or early stage, in order to make sure that we stay in front of technological innovation in our industry. This is part of a broader strategy. It is a relatively small investment relative to Las Vegas Sands, but we think over time, this investment and others will help contribute to our overall digital efforts. I'm not gonna get into the exact thesis behind every investment that we do.

There's a long-term plan for what we're approaching, and I think over time you'll start to see how that evolves.

Robin Farley
Managing Director, UBS

Okay. Thank you.

Patrick Dumont
President and COO, Las Vegas Sands

Thanks, Robin.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is coming from Carlo Santarelli from Deutsche Bank. Carlo, your line is live.

Carlo Santarelli
Analyst, Deutsche Bank

Hey, guys. Thank you. I just have two kind of timeline related questions. I don't know, Rob may be best to answer the first and then, you know, perhaps something on color on Macau and the timeline there. Just in terms of MBS, obviously, you know, construction and things along those lines in this type of environment is very hard to predict. I have not gotten a chance to get through the slides yet to see if there are any changes to kind of your expectations for the timeline there. What are some of the goalposts in terms of construction on that?

Secondarily, as it pertains to the tender process and whatnot in Macau, how do you guys see the timeline for that shaping up as we move through the rest of 2022?

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Yeah. Carlo, in Singapore, we're, as you know, we're underway in a rather extensive renovation, a billion-dollar plus renovation in Singapore that's underway as we speak, and it's gonna take a while. It won't complete till the end of 2023. It's gonna be a very all-encompassing. We've had, as everyone in the world's been impacted by COVID, both, you know, getting supplies and labor's been an issue, but it's happening. It's underway. We're still working through our issues with IR2. We're not ready to talk about that today because we're still working through issues there. Same issues, supplies, labor, costs, et cetera. We intend to complete IR1, again, 2023. IR2 is still open for interpretation. As for Macau timelines and the retendering, I'm gonna turn it over to Wilfred and Grant to take that question.

I mean, Wilfred is best suited.

Wilfred Wong
Executive Vice Chairman and Executive Director, Sands China

Thank you. The timeline for retendering of the concession is progressing according to the timeline announced by the Macau SAR government. Now, currently, a few things are at play. Two bills relating to the gaming law has been approved by the Legislative Assembly, and will be approved in full after the panel discussion before the end of this legislative session in August. We are hearing all kinds of suggestion that it will be earlier than August. At this stage, we are going to be granted an extension of the current concession until the end of 2022. That is the time that we expect the retendering exercise will be completed.

After the amendment of the law, then the retendering procedure will start. A lot of information about the retender will come out. We are in the process of preparing for that retendering exercise, and hopefully everything will be done before the end of 2022.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Wilfred, thank you. That's helpful. So just so I'm clear, in August you'll more or less have everything you need from the gaming law perspective, and then that period from say, you know, August if not maybe earlier through December will be the formal tendering process when everything is more or less buttoned up. Is that the right interpretation?

Wilfred Wong
Executive Vice Chairman and Executive Director, Sands China

That's right.

Carlo Santarelli
Analyst, Deutsche Bank

Great. Thank you very much.

Wilfred Wong
Executive Vice Chairman and Executive Director, Sands China

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is coming from George Choi from Citigroup. George, your line is live.

George Choi
Research Analyst, Citigroup

Thank you very much. A couple of questions from me. Firstly, in Macao, the Macao court has recently ruled that a couple of your competitors, jointly and severally liable for some illegal deposits with junkets. How do you see the likelihood that you guys will also be found liable for this potential liability after the recent crackdown of the major junkets there?

Wilfred Wong
Executive Vice Chairman and Executive Director, Sands China

Yeah, Grant, do you want to handle that?

Grant Chum
COO, Sands China

Sure. Thanks, George, for the question. I think as you know, the cessation of operations of all of these fixed room junket promoters obviously happened fairly recently in December of last year. As a result of that, obviously there are some new court cases being raised by various stakeholders and participants in that system. Currently there is nothing material to report from Sands China perspective. There are a few cases ongoing, but none of them are material, and we'll continue to monitor the situation and obviously report back if there are any changes.

George Choi
Research Analyst, Citigroup

Thanks, guys. My second question is on your balance sheet. Now, clearly, the first quarter was quite difficult for your Macao operations and is putting a lot of stress on your balance sheet at Sands China. When it gets to a point where Sands China needs to raise funds, would you guys consider equity as an option, or is the cost of debt still cheap enough that you would continue to look to raise funds from the debt capital market?

Wilfred Wong
Executive Vice Chairman and Executive Director, Sands China

Patrick?

Patrick Dumont
President and COO, Las Vegas Sands

Hi, it's Patrick. How you doing? A couple of thoughts here. I think we're very optimistic about the long-term future of Macao. We understand that there's articles out about concerns around liquidity. I think we have a very strong balance sheet. Yes, we've received some stress over the last few years under the pandemic's tough operating conditions. I think we all have. The good news is that our company as a group has a lot of liquidity. We have a lot of different options. I think the good news is also that we were an investment grade company during the pandemic, which says a lot about the market's view about our ability to raise additional capital. From our standpoint, I think we have a lot of flexibility.

Our balance sheet was designed to withstand shocks and a lot of variability in our respective operating markets. I think we've proven that. I think where we are today is we'll look to see how the operations continue coming out of the pandemic, which hopefully is soon, look at our liquidity and make decisions based on our available options. I don't think we're stuck in one particular view. I think we have cash up at parent, we have cash around the system, we have an investment-grade credit rating, we have access to credit markets. I think the good news is we position ourselves well to benefit from the recovery on the other side. I think we have a lot of flexibility, and we'll use it as needed.

George Choi
Research Analyst, Citigroup

That's very good color. Thank you very much.

Patrick Dumont
President and COO, Las Vegas Sands

Thanks, George.

Operator

Thank you. Next question is coming from Chad Beynon from Macquarie. Chad, your line is live.

Chad Beynon
Managing Director and Analyst, Macquarie

Hi. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. Wanted to ask about inflation. I know it's obviously something that people are a little bit more focused on here in North America, and it's different in different regions of the world. Wondering if you could kind of talk about the labor inflationary environment or employment situation in your key markets, Singapore and Macao, and how that could potentially impact margins when the business is fully recovered on the revenue side. Thanks.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

I don't want to say the only thing about our business. I mean, obviously, you know, margins and inflation, it's a question we're anticipating. I would say that I believe the revenue side of the equation is gonna more than take care of itself as far as margins. We're gonna be really. I'd be shocked if we don't see a big return in Singapore this year and then hopefully a big return in Macao in 2023, hopefully maybe 2022. I don't know. We don't have any visibility more than you do about what's gonna happen in China, let's be clear. I do think, just like here in the U.S., margins have gone very powerfully positive because the demand is there. I don't think Asia is any different. You know, the equation is gonna be driven by excessive revenue, I think, in Singapore.

We'll see it this year, I believe, and hopefully we'll see it in Macao this year or next. As for the operating entities, Grant, you want to discuss that as you see as far as Macao, for example, in wage inflation? I don't know how to address that question.

Grant Chum
COO, Sands China

Sure, Rob. I think right now, Macau is in a slightly different situation. If you look at the wage trend, it's very moderate, if not flattish in terms of wage inflation. Obviously, that's for reasons that are not hard to discern, because there is pressure on employment, since it's such a tourism-dependent economy. Interestingly, in terms of construction works, costs are again either in line with prior years or if not, going down somewhat. Again, because of the demand-supply situation that's specific to Macau, as a lot of the large scale works have moderated or been completed. At this stage, we're not seeing any significant signs on the inflation front.

Of course, there are some supplies, you know, such as food and so on, where you do experience inflation, but obviously for the totality of our business, this is not going to be material. I think the important point is what Rob said. I think you also have to consider for our type of business, the revenue side of the equation, which I think is gonna be the more dominant driver, if obviously prices take off.

Chad Beynon
Managing Director and Analyst, Macquarie

Thanks.

Patrick Dumont
President and COO, Las Vegas Sands

Just to sort of, one other thought. You know, I think the important thing to note is where you'll see the impact of inflation is really in construction costs and in materials that go into construction inputs for large scale projects. You see that in the U.S., you'll see it in Singapore, and you'll start to see it in other markets in Asia as people come out of the pandemic, and really, there's a pent-up demand pipeline of things that needed to get done, as well as a shortage of labor and a shortage of labor movement related to pandemic restrictions. That is something that, you know, is a likely thing to be seen. You're already experiencing a little bit of it in certain markets.

I think the other thing is, the good news is with inflation also comes pricing. Our business is not tied into any long-term contracts. We have the ability to operate within the market. You know, Singapore has always been a very high quality place for labor. It's been an expensive labor market. It's always been very tight, and we've always managed it. You know, I have faith in the team, faith in our execution capability to maintain margins through this cycle. I think that's really the nature of our business, that we have pricing power, we have the ability to change rates as a hotel, as a consumer products company, and really work through the changing in inflation and in effect, make that part of the business margin.

Chad Beynon
Managing Director and Analyst, Macquarie

Thanks, Patrick. Separately, just on the digital portfolio opportunities that you talked about, just given the current valuation change that we've seen in a lot of the public companies, has anything changed just in terms of the total amount of money that you know wanna invest in this space, given that there might be some really good opportunities in the near term just because of a valuation disconnect? Or are you still kind of disciplined in terms of the total amount that you would put forward towards this effort? Thank you.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

I believe we have to be disciplined. The reason I say that is our core business, and let's be honest, our balance sheet is what it is. It's in a pretty good place. If our business returns in Singapore like we anticipate, and then behind that comes Macau, we get back to $4-$6 billion EBITDA, our investment portfolio approach may change as it relates to digital. But at this time, we're gonna stay with doing what we're doing now, which is being very disciplined, waiting for our core business to return because there's no one like us. If Macau comes back, and I think it'll be back hopefully sooner than later, Singapore is coming back, we'll be in a very different place in six months or a year, and that may change our thinking. I think it's pretty simple.

We wanna get back to our core strength, and then we visit other things at that time.

Patrick Dumont
President and COO, Las Vegas Sands

I think one other thing that's important to note is we're very much focused on building rather than buying. We wanna make sure that we create a lot of long-term value. Our company has a history of just being a platform of development and entrepreneurship, and we're taking that approach through our digital efforts in several different areas. We think over time, that will provide the most reward for shareholders. We're very patient. We're thinking long term. Yes, there are cycles in valuations across the digital space. In our mind, you know, we're executing against our long-term strategy and take advantage where we can.

Chad Beynon
Managing Director and Analyst, Macquarie

Thanks. Appreciate it.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is coming from David Katz from Jefferies. David, your line is live.

David Katz
Managing Director, Jefferies

Hi. Afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my question. You know, with respect to the U.S. land-based opportunity set that's out there, if you sort of have your druthers or have your wishes, you know, come to pass, what does the, you know, LVS U.S. land-based, you know, presence look like over time?

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Any place there's very large scale buildings that can create, you know, large EBITDA. We're not looking to be a small regional player, obviously. That limits the opportunities, doesn't it, to Texas, New York. We failed in Florida recently, but we're not done with Florida. We're still looking at that. You know, there's very few places we can go and invest, you know, the kind of money we want to invest and get the kind of returns we want. We're not gonna be buying small businesses. I think at this point, as you talked to today, it would have to be Texas, New York, and perhaps Florida.

David Katz
Managing Director, Jefferies

Got it. Understood. Thanks very much.

Patrick Dumont
President and COO, Las Vegas Sands

Thanks, David.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is coming from Steven Wieczynski from Stifel. Steve, your line is live.

Steven Wieczynski
Managing Director, Stifel

Yeah. Hey, guys. Good afternoon. Just one question from me. You know, Rob, you talked about getting to that $1 billion EBITDA run rate in Singapore by the end of the year. I'm not sure you're gonna answer this, but you know, is it fair to say that March and maybe more so April on a monthly run rate basis is enough to get you to that $1 billion run rate level? I'm just you know, really trying to understand a little more how strong you know, recent trends have been.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Yeah, well, I guess looking at March, you're at about $700 million run rate if you annualize March, and April looks better at this point. I don't think it takes a lot to get there. I mean, to be honest, I don't know why we wouldn't get there. We won't get into specific numbers in April, but the trending in Singapore, as I referenced earlier, Robin, someone asked a question about what's happening in Singapore. It's outsized demand in all segments, so why wouldn't it happen? I mean, I think it's gonna blow past the $1 billion, frankly. I think it should. It just depends on if we see any pushback in COVID restrictions. I mean, we have an outsized opportunity. Singapore is the best product available in the market today. Macau essentially is not available.

I think we compete very well anyway in Singapore, but it's unique now, and I think it should hit $1 billion and better. The only negative there, as you well know, is China is still relatively closed to us, so that's the market we'll miss. We feel very confident about our prospects. In the last month, things have gone from, you know, hesitancy to full-bore excitement about what's happening in Singapore. I think the government, you know, I hope they share our enthusiasm.

Steven Wieczynski
Managing Director, Stifel

Okay, great. Thanks, Rob. Really appreciate it.

Operator

Thank you. The final question is coming from Benjamin Chaiken from Credit Suisse. Ben, your line is live.

Benjamin Chaiken
Senior Analyst and VP of Equity Research, Credit Suisse

Hey, how's it going? I guess just two or three follow-ups on Singapore. You mentioned $58 million in March. Can you remind me, is that I believe there was some tax changes coming into play. I guess simplistically, VIP and mass each go up roughly 300 basis points. Was that in March already in the numbers you mentioned?

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Yes, it was. As of March one, we were impacted by, as of March one, by the changes you referenced, yes.

Benjamin Chaiken
Senior Analyst and VP of Equity Research, Credit Suisse

Cool. Thank you. Then two, I think in the last few days, there's been some changes in Singapore regarding travel restrictions.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Yep.

Benjamin Chaiken
Senior Analyst and VP of Equity Research, Credit Suisse

Can you remind us maybe, please refresh us where we are today versus where we were in March?

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Where we are today is basically if you're vaccinated, you can get into Singapore pretty easily. There are still restrictions and, you know, you've got to be, if you're in the casino, you've got to be smoking or drinking water or something to be able to take your mask off. But pretty much it's if you're vaccinated, you have full access to Singapore. It's a very different place than it was a month ago. That's why we're so bullish on Singapore. It basically is quarantine-free entry for all vaccinated travelers and no quota on number of daily arrivals. There's no more restrictions. We're back in business in Singapore in a very positive way.

Benjamin Chaiken
Senior Analyst and VP of Equity Research, Credit Suisse

Gotcha. Just last quick one. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but you mentioned $1 billion a few times, but why not, I mean, you're doing $1.7 billion, right, pre-COVID? The new hotel coming, what's the. Is the $1 billion just a round number to

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Well, you say.

Benjamin Chaiken
Senior Analyst and VP of Equity Research, Credit Suisse

Illustrate the trajectory or?

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

There's no new hotel coming. We're not building a new hotel yet. There's no new hotel. There's a renovation of a current hotel. Look, we just use $1 billion as a benchmark. We think that's attainable. We're not trying to oversell it or over, you know, get too excited ahead of ourselves. Let's see where it goes. We're looking at the results in the U.S. We're very excited what's happened in the U.S. The demand is there. We've seen a reason why Asia shouldn't just keep ramping more positively. Again, as we referenced, that's a very unique asset. $1.7 billion at the peak was the performance of MBS. Will we get back there someday? Yeah, I think we will and then beyond that, but it won't be this year.

Benjamin Chaiken
Senior Analyst and VP of Equity Research, Credit Suisse

Cool. Thank you.

Rob Goldstein
Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands

Sure.

Operator

Thank you. There were no other questions in queue. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This does conclude today's conference call. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation.

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