That is according to Patrick Dumont (pictured in a file photo), the firm’s chairman and chief executive.

Online gaming “is not something that we intend to pursue,” he said on Thursday during the Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, held in New York in the United States.

Las Vegas Sands is the parent company of Macau-based casino operator Sands China Ltd. The parent company also controls the Marina Bay Sands casino complex, one half of Singapore’s casino duopoly.

“We are very focused on doing the things that we’re market leaders in,” Mr Dumont said, referring to the company’s strong position in the Macau and Singapore markets.

He added: “We believe that we have a very strong argument to be made where, if there’s a new jurisdiction that wants to bring integrated resorts, we’re someone that should be on the call list… We feel like that’s what we’re really good at and that’s what we’re going stick to.”

“I don’t think we’re going look to pursue things that are not in our core.”

The Las Vegas Sands CEO also addressed the emerging prediction markets sector, noting that doubts remained regarding the legality of how these platforms operate.

“But it’s interesting to watch and observe because it’s tangential to our industry.”

Where Las Vegas Sands sees an opportunity, according to the executive, is in the growing adoption of AI-powered technologies within its operations.

AI “is something that we look at a lot,” he said. Mr Dumont noted that, on one hand, the technology could increase the speed and efficiency of proprietary tools developed by casino operators.

“There’s a lot of that in our industry. There’s a lot of proprietary development that goes into what we do,” he noted.

Another area he highlighted was the potential for AI to make staff “more efficient”.

“But I think the biggest opportunity for us is business intelligence,” Mr Dumont said.

In that field, Mr Dumont discussed the growing importance of smart gaming tables for the Las Vegas Sands group, labelling the investment “very successful”. Nonetheless, he noted that the technology is still in its “early days” in terms of how efficient it can make operations, while also increasing security and improving the patron experience.

“We started investing in smart tables more than eight years ago. The solution that we run is a little bit different from some of the other solutions that other operators run,” Mr Dumont said.

“The key for us is really a combination of RFID and optical. That allows us to really be precise about the way that we understand what’s happening at the table. The goal was really to get analytics to the point where it was almost as good as it was on the slot side. It allows us to really understand what’s happening in a much better way.”

‘Missing capacity in premium’

Discussing Sands China’s performance, Mr Dumont explained that the firm was working on introducing products that “are more able to address the demand of higher-value patrons, because we’re missing capacity in the premium segment, particularly in the most premium areas”.

He added that the firm was also implementing measures to optimise operations in both the premium mass and base mass segments.

The Las Vegas Sands group announced in April that it was working on refreshing its hotel room product at The Venetian Macao and creating additional luxury suite offerings.

Mr Dumont stressed that Macau was “a product-driven market” – “you have to build things that enable customers to show up and feel like they get great experiences and therefore spend”.

“I always joke with people, saying that before the Venetian [Macao] was built, gross gaming revenue on Cotai was zero.”

Sands China reported net income of US$294 million for the first three months of 2026, compared with US$202 million a year earlier. The firm’s adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at US$633 million for the three months to March 31, up from US$535 million in the prior-year period.

In his remarks, Mr Dumont also discussed Las Vegas Sands’ potential interest in entering new markets. He again highlighted interest in Texas in the United States and Thailand, but noted that neither market had yet moved to legalise casino gambling.

Discussing the Middle East market, where rival casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd is poised to open its Wynn Al Marjan Island project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sometime next year, Mr Dumont said he hoped the new market would prove successful.

“I’m familiar with the Middle East… I’m a big fan of what they’re doing from a hospitality standpoint. I think they have great investments there,” he said.

“Gaming is new there. We’re watching and waiting. It’s great for our industry if they’re very successful, because I think our industry needs to experience some growth and needs to have new markets.”

That is according to a written reply to GGRAsia from the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) of Singapore.

The censure letter to Resorts World at Sentosa Pte Ltd during financial year 2026 ending in March had been disclosed on GRA’s website. The Resorts World Sentosa complex is wholly owned by Genting Singapore Ltd, a company of Malaysia’s Genting group.

GRA told GGRAsia in response to a request for clarification: “RWS failed to verify the completeness of the data processed by its application system supporting membership account status checks as per the functional requirements of the application system, resulting in a failure to ensure that the approved internal controls were implemented.”

The regulator added: “This was due to an erroneous configuration that was detected by RWS themselves.”

The regulator also clarified that a letter of censure is “a form of disciplinary action” issued by GRA under the Casino Control Act.

The overall disciplinary-action options available against casino operators are: the cancellation or suspension of a casino licence; the issuing of a letter of censure; the variation of the terms of a casino licence; or the imposition of a financial penalty for each ground of disciplinary action.

The censure letter to Resorts World at Sentosa Pte Ltd was for “failure to implement a specified internal control approved by the authority,” per the statement. It related to Singapore’s Casino Control (Internal Controls) Regulations 2013.

The letter was the only GRA enforcement action listed on its website for the 12-month period ended March 2026.

GGRAsia has approached GRA seeking clarification on the nature of the failure as asserted by the authority.

Per the GRA website, in the prior financial year – i.e., 2025 – GRA issued a total of SGD275,000 (US$215,356 currently) in financial penalties shared between three gaming operators.

There were SGD100,000 individual penalties for Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd, operator of the Marina Bay Sands casino resort; and Singapore Pools (Private) Limited, the only legal lottery and sports betting operator in Singapore.

Resorts World at Sentosa Pte had in financial-year 2025 a SGD75,000 penalty under Regulation 3 of the Casino Control (Advertising) Regulations 2010, for “failure to carry out or offer, or cause to be carried out or offered, casino promotions, in accordance with the approval by the authority”.

Neighbouring Indonesia showed the sharpest year-on-year downturn in volume, at nearly 31 percent, though the aggregate from the Chinese mainland rose year-on-year.

Singapore’s overall April arrivals tallied 1.33 million, the lowest monthly figure so far this year. April overnight visitors accounted for 933,840 arrivals, a 7.9-percent year-on-year decline.

Average stay length across all international markets was 3.36 days in April, a 2.1-percent shortening year-on-year.

The continuing top-five markets for the city-state’s inbound tourists in April were: mainland China (217,870), Indonesia (164,200), Australia (115,340), India (107,160) and Malaysia (99,300).

Of those five markets, all except mainland China recorded a year-on-year decline. The visitor arrivals from Indonesia – the second largest source market after mainland China – shrank by 30.7 percent year-on-year.

Visitors from mainland China expanded by 5.0 percent year-on-year in April.

Amongst the visitors from those five most significant inbound markets, only mainland China and India have average stay length that is higher than the international average at 3.36 days. In April, visitors from the Chinese mainland spent on average 3.46 days in Singapore, while those from India averaged 5.76 days.

Singapore Tourism Board’s latest monthly data took the city-state’s aggregate international visitor volume for the first four months of this year to 5.76 million, a 0.9 percent year-on-year increase.

In the January to April period, visitor arrivals from Malaysia and Australia respectively surpassed the equivalent period in 2019, the immediate trading year before Covid-19.

The Malaysia cohort tallied 438,090 during the first four months of this year; 15.8 percent up on the same period in 2019. The Australia segment, with 427,020 arrivals, was 15.3 percent higher than the same period in 2019.

The Chinese mainland, the top feeder market, supplied 1.13 million visitors in the January to April period, representing a nearly 90-percent recovery from the equivalent period in 2019.

Genting Singapore posted first-quarter net profit of nearly SGD65.2 million (US$51.2 million), down 55.0 percent from a year earlier. That was on revenue that fell 3.0 percent year-on-year, to SGD607.6 million. 

The company recorded first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of nearly SGD179.0 million, a 24.1-percent decrease from the prior-year period.

Resorts World Sentosa (pictured) is one of Singapore’s two casino complexes.

Moody’s has issued a “Baa1” credit rating on Genting Singapore, with a ‘stable’ outlook.

“Genting Singapore’s credit quality continues to benefit from a strong balance sheet, with the company remaining in a net cash position, which provides substantial financial flexibility,” the rating agency noted in a Monday report.

“However, this credit strength is increasingly constrained by the company’s continued loss of market share over the past few years” in the Singapore market, wrote analysts Anthony Prayugo, Jonathan Tai, and Jacintha Poh.

“Genting Singapore’s share of gross gaming revenue (GGR) declined to around 24 percent in first-quarter 2026, from 39 percent in the first quarter of 2024, which limits its earnings growth,” they added.

The analysts stated: “We previously expected that the completion of new attractions and the recovery in operating capacity in the second half of 2025 would support a gradual improvement in margins toward 2023 levels.”

However, continued expenditure on marketing initiatives for these new attractions and systems upgrades now mean that margins will remain broadly unchanged in the near term,” they noted.

According to Moody’s team, the investments in Resorts World Sentosa, “while strategically necessary to improve visitation and competitiveness, will weigh on near-term profitability”.

Earlier this month, banking group Nomura downgraded the rating on Genting Singapore, on what the institution termed the “slow ramp up” of business following upgrades to Resorts World Sentosa.

Genting Singapore’s executive chairman and acting chief executive, Lim Kok Thay, said recently that a key focus of the next phase of investment at Resorts World Sentosa would be the complex’s gaming venue.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting in mid-April, Mr Lim said the firm’s management was devoting attention to “design, marketing and operations” in order to close competitive gaps in the gaming segment to its Singapore market rival, the Marina Bay Sands complex, run by a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

In Friday’s memo, Moody’s suggested that “ongoing geopolitical uncertainties – particularly related to the Middle East conflict – could lead to higher utilities costs” at Resorts World Sentosa. That was a view also expressed by the casino firm in its first-quarter earnings.

“That said, we understand that a substantial portion of Genting Singapore’s utilities expenses are price fixed, which should partially mitigate the impact of higher energy prices on operating costs,” the Moody’s analysts stated.

“As a result of these combined pressures, we now expect Genting Singapore’s EBITDA to remain below its 2023-2024 levels over the next few years,” the Moody’s team said.

“Based on our estimates, adjusted EBITDA will stay at around SGD800 to SGD900 million in 2026-2028, lower than the SGD1.1 billion to SGD1.2 billion achieved in 2023-2024,” they added.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting in mid-April, Genting Singapore’s executive chairman and acting chief executive, Lim Kok Thay, said a key focus of the next phase of investment would be the complex’s gaming venue.

Mr Lim said the firm’s management was devoting attention to “design, marketing and operations” in order to close competitive gaps in the gaming segment to its Singapore market rival, the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) complex, run by a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

He said the casino would undergo a transformation process under RWS 2.0, with emphasis placed on improving the gaming environment and customer experience. Planned changes include enhancements to the casino’s location as well as new architectural features aimed at “allowing more natural light” into the gaming venue.

Mr Lim noted that renovation works would need to be carried out while the casino continued operating around the clock.

“As the casino is a live, 24/7 business, these works would be carried out while the casino remains in operation,” the chairman said, according to minutes of the mid-April meeting made available on Thursday. “While there may be some disruption, the team would seek to minimise any inconvenience to guests.”

He added that the firm’s management was confident that the long-term benefits of the redevelopment would outweigh any short-term disruption during construction.

Genting Singapore posted annual net profit amounting to just over SGD390.3 million for full-year 2025, on revenue that fell 3.1 percent year-on-year, to SGD2.45 billion.

As part of the RWS’ redevelopment effort, Genting Singapore launched in early 2025 the Illumination’s Minion Land at RWS’ Universal Studios Singapore. July last year saw the opening of the Singapore Oceanarium and the launch of a revamped retail area dubbed “WEAVE”.

In October, the group opened The Laurus hotel, part of The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts portfolio.

Genting Singapore is currently developing a new waterfront precinct at RWS, which is expected to be completed in 2030.

In his remarks at the meeting, Mr Lim said the wider RWS 2.0 initiative would enhance accessibility and the overall guest experience at the Sentosa-based resort.

Addressing shareholder comparisons between the two Singapore casino resorts, Mr Lim acknowledged that RWS faced “inherent challenges” because of its location outside the city centre.

“RWS’s location presents inherent challenges and requires the company to spend significantly more effort and investment than if it were operating in a CBD [central business district] location,” he said, adding that several of these issues would be addressed through the RWS 2.0 redevelopment.

The chairman also highlighted plans to improve connectivity and accessibility to RWS, including to its retail and commercial areas. He said Genting Singapore was working closely with the Sentosa Development Corp on infrastructure and accessibility enhancements linked to the expansion project.

Genting Singapore’s president and chief operating officer, Lee Shi Ruh, said at the meeting that approximately SGD2.00 billion had already been spent on the expansion of the complex, leaving the bulk of investment to be deployed over the coming years.

She said Genting Singapore currently held cash reserves of about SGD3.20 billion and intended to prioritise internal cash resources to fund the RWS2.0 expansion project while setting aside funds for dividends.

External financing options, including bank borrowings and other funding instruments, would also be evaluated as part of the company’s broader capital management strategy, Ms Lee stated, adding that the remaining expenditure under the RWS 2.0 programme would include ongoing maintenance capital in addition to RWS2.0 development investments.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd has maintained the casino firm at ‘hold’, though it noted in a Wednesday memo that Genting Singapore “came in below… expectations again largely due to elevated transformation related costs”.

Nomura’s change was flagged in a Tuesday memo, following Genting Singapore’s first-quarter results. The casino firm posted net profit of just under SGD65.2 million (US$51.2 million) for the three months to March 31, down 55.0 percent from a year earlier.

First-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at nearly SGD179.0 million, a 24.1-percent decrease from the prior-year period.

Nomura analysts Tushar Mohata and Alpa Aggarwal wrote, referring to property upgrades and a second phase of development at Resorts World Sentosa, known as RWS2.0: “The pace of recovery from RWS2.0 investments has proven materially slower than anticipated, prompting us to reassess our thesis.”

Though they added: “Downside is cushioned by the SGD0.04 dividend per share commitment providing circa 6-percent yield support, and eventual recovery potential as RWS2.0 assets mature, though timing remains uncertain.”

The analysts highlighted that VIP rolling market share at Resorts World Sentosa “dropped to an all-time low of 20 percent,” versus the property’s rival in the Singapore duopoly, Marina Bay Sands, run by a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

“Genting Singapore’s first-quarter adjusted EBITDA was a significant miss, accounting for 18 percent and 19 percent of our previous and Bloomberg consensus estimates for full-year 2026, respectively,” the Nomura team added.

Nomura’s analysts stated regarding the property’s VIP gambling business, there had been an “unexpected” 24 percent quarter-on-quarter decline in VIP rolling chip volume to SGD5.6 billion.

That was “contrary to seasonal trends where the first quarter has typically been the peak quarter for gaming” in that market, they added.

The analysts stated: “This fall is stark versus Marina Bay Sands’ 34 percent quarter-on-quarter jump in VIP rolling chip volume.”

The institution also said Genting Singapore’s margin on adjusted EBITDA “compressed to 29.5 percent” in the reporting period, from 37.7 percent in the first quarter of 2025, “despite revenue declining by only 3 percent, representing negative operational leverage”.

Nomura noted that management commentary had highlighted elevated costs from ongoing information technology infrastructure modernisation, higher marketing and promotion expenses, “pre-opening costs for new activations, phased asset refresh and hotel renovations continuing through 2026, and enterprise integration investments”.

The institution stated it was lowering its full-year 2026 EBITDA estimates by 26 percent, to about SGD759 million, and its net income estimates by 36 percent, to circa SGD356 million.

It also expected consensus estimates to be “revised lower materially to reflect the weaker operating trends and higher cost base”.

Maybank said – citing management commentary – that “transformation costs” at Resorts World Sentosa were likely “to remain elevated through 2026”.

Its analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang stated, referring to upward pressure on global costs for oil: “Genting Singapore is also wary that the continuing conflict in the Middle East has driven up costs.”

“At the same time, higher airfares are weighing on travel demand and softening consumer sentiment,” Mr Yin added.

That was on revenue that fell 3.0 percent year-on-year, to SGD607.6 million, according to unaudited results filed to the Singapore Exchange on Tuesday.

Resorts World Sentosa (pictured) is one of Singapore’s two casino complexes. The firm is a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Bhd.

Genting Singapore recorded first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of nearly SGD179.0 million, a 24.1-percent decrease from the prior-year period.

The firm reported gaming revenue of nearly SGD403.4 million in the reporting period, down 7.8 percent from the first quarter of 2025. Non-gaming revenue rose 8.3 percent year-on-year, to SGD204.1 million.

Genting Singapore said in commentary accompanying the results that “steady operational progress” was made during the first quarter this year, “with gaming revenue showing improving momentum towards the end of the period”. 

“Non-gaming revenue increased year-on-year, supported by higher visitation to key attractions” at Resorts World Sentosa, including the Universal Studios Singapore and the Singapore Oceanarium at the complex, the firm added.

The company further stated: “The ongoing conflict in the Middle East and current geopolitical developments have increased cost pressures across supply chains, including higher energy, freight and logistics expenses, while elevated airfares are weighing on travel demand and dampening consumer sentiment.”

As such, Genting Singapore said it was “proactively addressing these challenges while also seeking to capture opportunities through targeted programming and market-focused initiatives”.

“The group remains focused on asset optimisation to enhance guest experience and broaden revenue streams,” it added. That included seasonal events and promotions, and refreshed lifestyle and dining concepts.

Genting Singapore has earmarked about SDG6.80 billion to upgrade and expand Resorts World Sentosa. It has also opened revamped attractions and new assets at the complex last year, including the launch of The Laurus hotel in October.

Lim Kok Thay, executive chairman and acting chief executive of Genting Singapore, said recently that the company was now in a “stronger position to welcome more visitors and appeal to a broader spectrum of guests in 2026”. That is because its Resorts World Sentosa features now “more diverse and robust offerings,” he added.

The body – which oversees the city-state’s casino duopoly as well as having other duties – has also promoted a “strong” compliance culture in the sector, added the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in its latest mutual evaluation report on Singapore.

The report, issued by the Paris-based watchdog, is part of its peer-review system where jurisdictions are assessed for compliance with certain international standards.

The evaluation included the effectiveness of the city-state as a whole, in countering money laundering, terrorist financing, and weapons-proliferation financing. The paper was based on information gathered in a FATF “on-site visit” to the country in July 2025, as well as “off-site” checks.

The FATF’s report included assessment of anti-money laundering (AML) measures across a number of Singapore’s governmental departments, agencies, and responsibilities, including casino and gambling regulation, over a period spanning 2020 to 2024.

Singapore’s casino duopoly consists of Resorts World Sentosa, run by a unit of Genting Singapore Ltd, and Marina Bay Sands, run by a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Their businesses are known as designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBP) in AML regulatory language.

The GRA has a “high-level understanding” of AML and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) needs applied to the gambling sector, and has applied “stringent supervision” of the two casino operators, remarked the FATF in the report.

“Given the limited number of operators and their similar risk exposure and clientele, GRA applies a consistent and rigorous supervisory approach to both casino operators in Singapore,” the report added.

“It [GRA] uses a mix of on-site and off-site tools, including examinations, review of internal audit reports and data submissions, with focused examinations conducted within each three-year licence cycle,” the FATF further noted, referring to the standard duration of a casino gaming permit in the duopoly.

Penalties by GRA

During FATF’s 2020 to 2024 review period, the GRA had issued in aggregate “nine warning letters” and “six financial penalties” totalling nearly SGD2.7 million (US$2.1 million) – relating to breaches of AML and CFT controls under the casino duopoly.

The circumstances of the penalities were not detailed in the report.

But FATF noted: “Interviewed casino operators expressed [the view] that GRA’s intensive supervision has brought pressure and resulted into a stronger compliance culture.”

“GRA actively used various sanction tools against breaches of AML/CFT requirements, and casino operators engaged external consultants to review and improve their AML/CFT frameworks,” the report also mentioned.

The casino operators in Singapore have “robust” customer due diligence and monitoring measures in place that commensurate with the gambling sector’s money laundering and terrorist financing risks, the FATF report concluded.

“The casinos conduct identity checks at entry and BO [beneficial ownership] information are obtained and verified prior to establishing patron accounts or conducting transactions above the SGD4,000 (US$3,000) threshold,” the report mentioned.

Singapore’s customer due-diligence threshold for financial transactions related to the casino sector, is in line with the FATF’s threshold requirement of US$3,000, or EUR3,000, the watchdog noted.

“Ongoing monitoring [of the casino sector] includes income and occupation-based profiling and assessing third-party relationships to detect inconsistencies between patrons’ gaming activity and known financial profiles” to “ensure lawful entitlement to usage of funds,” the report said.

The Singapore casino regulator does not maintain a “dedicated team” for AML and CFT supervision, but the GRA said there was “no issue” in terms of “resources” to fulfil such duties, the FATF also noted in its report.

“From 2020 to 2024, GRA has conducted 16 examinations against two casinos covering themes including CDD [customer due diligence], ongoing monitoring, STR [suspicious transaction report] reporting, etc.”

The FATF added: “Following each examination, GRA will issue a report highlighting instances of deficiencies with the regulatory requirements or areas of weakness and recommending areas for improvement.”

Nationwide, Singapore has a “competent and coordinated” regime in place for tackling financing crime challenges, concluded FATF in its latest assessment.

The financial watchdog did recommend Singapore complete a number of actions within three years. The FATF mentioned prioritising “complex high-value money laundering investigations” and implementing more “context-specific proliferation finance risk mitigation measures”, including for representative offices of foreign flag states.

On a United States-GAAP basis, total net revenues for Sands China increased 23.7 percent year-on-year to US$2.11 billion. The figure was up 2.7 percent sequentially, according to results published on Wednesday by the firm’s parent, U.S.-based Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Sands China’s adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at US$633 million for the three months to March 31, up from US$535 million in the prior-year period.

The increase in first-quarter net revenues generated by the Macau operations reflected a broad-based growth across the group’s Cotai portfolio.

The Londoner Macao (pictured) recorded the strongest gains, with net revenues rising to US$754 million, from US$529 million a year earlier. The Venetian Macao generated US$710 million in revenue, while The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Macao reported US$290 million.

The Parisian Macao posted relatively flat revenue year-on-year at US$229 million, while Sands Macao recorded revenue of US$93 million, compared with US$75 million in the prior-year period.

Based on property-level data, Sands China reported aggregate casino revenue of US$1.61 billion for the first quarter of 2026, a 26.8-percent increase from US$1.27 billion a year earlier.

The group’s Macau adjusted property EBITDA margin however was down to 29.9 percent, compared with 31.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025.

Banking group JP Morgan stated in a Thursday note that Sands China’s first quarter EBITDA – “one of the best sequential momentum achievements among the [Macau] operators” – was in line with investment analysts’ expectations.

It added: “The real story, though, is underneath the headline: Sands China gained meaningful market share while simultaneously pulling back on reinvestment spend – a combination we think the Street will like – and the print can be viewed as ‘better than feared,’ in our view.”

Analysts DS Kim, Selina Li and Lindsey Qian wrote that Sands China “was the standout share gainer in the first quarter, with GGR [gross gaming revenue] up 5 percent quarter-on-quarter against a flat industry”.

The JP Morgan team also noted Sands China’s “improving” player reinvestment rate in Macau, as operators vie for patrons in the premium-mass segment.

“Our analysis shows Sands China’s mass reinvestment rate (loosely calculated as contra revenue as percentage of mass GGR) fell around 100 basis points quarter-on-quarter to circa 21 percent to 22 percent, snapping a four-quarter rising trend,” it said.

“Gaining share while spending less is the dynamic we and the market wanted to see; this indicates an improving reinvestment efficiency,” the analysts added.

Brokerage Jefferies Hong Kong Ltd  said in a separate note on Thursday that initiatives by Sands China’s management “show some progress, with share gain in every segment (especially slots and electronic table games), both on year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis for the period.”

Dividend, Singapore growth

On Wednesday, Las Vegas Sands reported group-wide net income of US$641 million for the opening quarter of 2026, up 57.1 percent year-on-year, according to its filing in the United States.

The parent’s latest result was based on net revenues that rose 25.3 percent year-on-year, to US$3.59 billion. Operating income for the period was US$904 million, compared to US$609 million a year earlier.

The group operates casinos in Macau via Sands China, and the Marina Bay Sands property in Singapore via its Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd unit.

In the January to March period, Las Vegas Sands’ consolidated adjusted property EBITDA was US$1.42 billion, up 24.6 percent year-on-year.

Las Vegas Sands repurchased US$740 million of its own shares during the first quarter. It also paid a quarterly dividend of US$0.30 per share, and said the next dividend of US$0.30 would be paid on May 13.

Wednesday’s announcement cited Patrick Dumont, chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands, as saying: “We continued to execute our strategic objectives during the quarter as we delivered growth in both Singapore and Macau while continuing to increase the return of capital to shareholders.”

The CEO said the group remained confident that its portfolio and ongoing investment programmes would support further business expansion.

In Singapore, first-quarter net revenues rose to nearly US$1.49 billion, from US$1.16 billion a year earlier. Marina Bay Sands recorded adjusted property EBITDA of US$788 million for the reporting period, 30.3-percent higher than in the prior-year period.

The property’s EBITDA margin was 53.0 percent, up from 52.0 percent a year earlier, maintaining its position as the Las Vegas Sands’ most profitable asset.

Casino revenues at the complex were US$1.13 billion, compared to US$857 million a year earlier. Non-gaming segments – including rooms, food and beverage, and retail – also recorded year-on-year gains.

Las Vegas Sands noted capital expenditure of US$194 million during the quarter, including US$89 million in Macau and US$102 million at Marina Bay Sands, as it continues development and enhancement works across its portfolio.

Marina Bay Sands is currently pursuing a multi-billion-dollar expansion, aimed at enhancing its position. The US$8-billion expansion project – often referred as ‘MBS 2.0’ – is slated for completion in 2030.