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Year-on-year earnings across the Las Vegas Sands group were up around 20 per cent in the three months to December 31, 2017, thanks largely to huge gains in Sands China’s Macau operations.

Consolidated group net revenue in the period was up 11.7 per cent to $3.44bn, while net income leapt 124.1 per cent to $1.36bn, boosted by a non-cash tax benefit of $526m thanks to US tax reforms.

Adjusted property EBITDA across the group increased 19.7 per cent to $1.34bn, of which Macau operations contributed a whopping $758m in the three-month period, up 30 per cent year on year.

At Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, adjusted property EBITDA climbed six per cent $388m while the group’s Las Vegas properties saw adjusted property EBITDA rise 2.7 per cent to $114m.

In a statement, Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands, said: “We are extremely pleased to have delivered another set of strong financial results this quarter.

“The Macau market continued its robust recovery during the quarter, with growth in the important mass gaming market accelerating in the fourth quarter of 2017. Sands China’s mass table games win increased 26.9 per cent, outpacing the estimated growth in the market overall and contributing to our highest mass gaming win since the first quarter of 2014.

“That strong gaming performance, coupled with higher hotel occupancy and retail mall revenues, helped drive an increase in adjusted property EBITDA of 19.8 per cent, to $731m, our best quarterly result in Macau since the third quarter of 2014,” said Adelson.

“We are extremely pleased with our operating momentum in Macau and remain confident that our Cotai Strip property portfolio will continue to deliver important benefits to Macau in the form of economic diversification, greater numbers of business and leisure travellers, and a superior platform for growth in the years ahead.”