Las Vegas Sands Misses Q1 Views, Shares Tumble After-Hours

Shares of

slipped over 4 percent in after-hours trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter. The Las Vegas, Nevada-based company reported a quarterly profit of $511.9 million, or $0.64 per share, compared to $776.2 million, or $0.95 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, the company's earnings came in at $0.66 per share. Its revenue shrank 24.9 percent to $3.01 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.72 per share on revenue of $3.22 billion. Net revenue for Sands China Ltd slipped 35 percent to $1.77 billion, while net income tumbled 54.2 percent to $344.7 million. Consolidated adjusted property EBITDA declined 29 percent to $1.05 billion in the first quarter. Operating income dropped 37.8 percent to $711.1 million in the first quarter. Capital expenditures totaled $367.3 million during the first quarter. As of March 31, 2015, unrestricted cash balances were $2.41 billion. The average estimate among 31 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.76 per share and revenue of $3.36 billion. Mr. Sheldon G. Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer, said, "While the operating environment in Macao, particularly in the high-end gaming segments, remained challenging during the quarter, our focus on the higher margin mass and non-gaming segments and the geographic diversification of our cash flows allowed us to deliver in excess of one billion U.S. dollars of Adjusted Property EBITDA during the quarter. Despite the current headwinds in the Macao market, we remain steadfast in our focus on the consistent execution of our global growth strategy, which leverages the power of our unique convention-based Integrated Resort business model." Las Vegas Sands shares declined 4.42 percent to $53.90 in the after-hours trading session.