-- Las Vegas Sands isn't concerned by Singapore's move to
restrict casino access for "financially vulnerable" residents, CEO
says
-- Las Vegas Sands doesn't expect such restrictions to have
significant impact on its Singapore casino's mass market
business
(Adds background in fifth to seventh, ninth paragraphs, and
chief executive's comments in eighth paragraph.)
By Chun Han Wong
SINGAPORE--Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) isn't concerned by
Singapore's moves to further limit casino access for low-income
residents and doesn't expect the tighter rules to have a
significant impact on its mass-market business, the U.S. gaming
group's chief executive said Thursday.
"We don't want to take money from poor people, so we don't have
a problem if [Singapore] wants to put a limitation on either
visitation or the exclusion of very poor people," Sheldon Adelson
told analysts in an earnings call. "We don't see the future coming
out of poor, unfortunate, very vulnerable people."
The comments from Mr. Adelson, whose company runs the Marina Bay
Sands casino resort in Singapore, come after the city-state's
government announced stiffer casino-entry restrictions for
"financially vulnerable" citizens and permanent residents in a bid
to contain gambling-related social ills.
In June, Singapore widened a casino-entry ban for locals who are
bankrupt or reliant on government aid, with some 43,000 locals to
be barred by Aug. 1. Authorities proposed more restrictions earlier
this month, including imposing limits on the frequency of visits
for certain local gamblers.
Singapore dropped a longstanding ban on casino gambling in 2005,
paving the way for two casino resorts to open in early 2010 as the
island state sought to spice up its reputation as a travel
destination and reap more tourism dollars.
Critics had opposed the casinos, fearing a rise in social
problems like organized crime and gambling addiction. To contain
the impact, citizens and permanent residents are charged an entry
fee of 100 Singapore dollars (US$79) per day or S$2,000 for an
annual pass to a casino. Authorities have also banned advertising
targeting locals and introduced social programs to discourage heavy
gambling.
These steps have worked to some extent. Local visitors to
Resorts World Sentosa's casino--operated by Genting Singapore PLC
(G13.SG)--fell 32% in 2011 to 136,434 from 199,783 in 2010, while
Marina Bay Sands reported a 9% decline for the same period; 137,259
locals visited its casino in the whole of last year, compared with
150,691 in 2010.
Singaporeans account for about 25% of visitors to Marina Bay
Sands, Mr. Adelson said, but added that he expects the growth in
foreign visitors to support the casino's mass-market earnings.
Since opening in April 2010, Marina Bay Sands has emerged as one
of Las Vegas Sands' more profitable casinos, alongside the group's
Macau properties. In the April-June quarter, the Singapore casino
resort generated US$330.4 million in adjusted earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization--a 18.5% decrease
from a year ago mainly due to lower volume and a less favorable
luck factor.
Write to Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@dowjones.com
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