Las Vegas Sands Falls on Record Earnings, Declares Dividend

Las Vegas Sands LVS reported record adjusted earnings per share of 57 cents, up from 42 cents in the previous quarter, matching analyst expectations. The company also reported an annual dividend of $1.00 per share, as predicted by analysts at Morgan Stanley. The dividend will be paid on March 30th to shareholds of record on March 20th. Concerns over the company's Macau operations were quashed as the company reported EBITDA of $434.2 million from the firm's Chinese casinos--a new record. Annual revenues increased 37.3% to a record $9.41 billion for 2011, and EBITDA for all operations also made another record, thanks to a 58.5% jump to $3.53 billion. The company also saw its EBITDA margin increase 1.5 points to 37.1%. The jump was largely thanks to a jump in casino revenues, which climbed 13.4% to $641.3 million. Q4 2011 revenues were a record $2.54 billion, slightly ahead of analyst expectations of $2.47 billion and a 5.8% increase on the previous quarter. The company pointed to growth at the company's Singapore property, Marina Bay Sands, as well as Macau operations. Las Vegas operations also climbed slightly higher, with Venetian and Palazzo properties yielding $80.9 million in EBITDA. The company's tax rate stayed low, at an effective rate of 10.2%. The company's stock was down nearly 2% in after hours trading at $49.25.