GGRAsia – Cotai Arena reopens Nov, Pacifica casino rejig ready Dec: LVS

Cotai Arena reopens Nov, Pacifica casino rejig ready Dec: LVS

Apr 18, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The Cotai Arena, a performance and events venue at the Venetian Macao casino resort in the Cotai district of Macau, “is expected to reopen in November” this year, said on Wednesday Patrick Dumont, Las Vegas Sands Corp’s president and chief operating officer.

Las Vegas Sands is the parent of Macau casino operator Sands China Ltd, promoter of the property.

The Cotai Arena, with a maximum capacity of 15,000 seats, closed in January for renovation, as reported by GGRAsia.

Speaking on a conference call following the first-quarter earnings announcement by the parent firm, Mr Dumont also said that the group had “commenced the room renovation” on the first Sheraton hotel tower, part of Phase 2 of the transformation of the Londoner Macao casino resort (pictured).

“We plan the completion of the first tower by year end, and of the second tower by … May 2025. The renovation of the casino on the Sheraton side of the Londoner Macao will commence in May of this year with the reopening scheduled for December 2024,” stated Mr Dumont.

The COO acknowledged that the revamp at the Londoner Macao and the Cotai Arena “had an impact” on the group’s first-quarter results.

“When we took the [Cotai] Arena out in January, we lost the benefit of our entertainment programmes during a peak period,” said the executive. “With some hotel rooms out and the arena out, we felt it on the revenue side.”

“There will be disruption” throughout the year, stated Mr Dumont. “I can’t quantify it for you, but it’s not going to be immaterial.”

But he added: “While there will be ongoing disruption from these capital projects, as these products come online between the end of 2024 and the first half of 2025, our competitive position will be stronger than ever.”

Phase II of the transformation of the Londoner Macao has a price tag of US$1.2 billion, according to the casino firm. It includes the renovation of the Sheraton and Conrad hotels, as well as the revamp of the Pacifica casino space.

Following a US$1.35-billion investment for Phase I, the Londoner Macao now features the architecture of the Palace of Westminster in London, including the clock tower popularly known as Big Ben. An additional US$400 million was spent on developing Londoner Court, an accommodation tower with circa 370 suites.

Also on the call, Grant Chum Kwan Lock, Sands China’s chief executive and president, said that despite the ongoing disruption linked to the transformation of the Londoner Macao, Sands China had still been able to maintain an adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of about “34 percent” in the first quarter, which he said was “a really good number”.

Mr Chum said the group “was down about 500 to 600 rooms” in the first quarter due to the renovation of the first Sheraton hotel tower at the Londoner Macao. The two Sheraton towers offer more than 4,000 rooms.

The number of unavailable rooms is expected to “increase further” in the coming quarters, as the renovation work progresses, he added.

Regarding the Cotai Arena, Mr Chum said the temporary closure of the venue had an impact on Sands China’s entertainment offering. The firm also operates the 6,000-seat Londoner Arena, a venue at the Londoner Macao property.

“If you just compare the sheer number of shows that we had in the first quarter, we had 12 shows, compared with 31 shows in the fourth quarter last year,” stated Mr Chum. “It’s a big difference, also in terms of capacity. So, the attendance per show was obviously much higher in the fourth quarter as well.”