Las Vegas Sands Lay Off 11,000 Workers in Macau

Macau has become so popular among gamblers over the past few years that they have surpassed Las Vegas as the gambling capital of the world in terms of revenue generated. The best of times, however, has given way to the worst of times lately in Macau.

The casino industry is struggling as a whole. No matter whether it is in Macau or Las Vegas. From small states in America to territories in other countries, not many casinos have survived the current state of the economy unscathed.

Las Vegas Sands is one of the companies that has been hit the hardest during these tough times. Owner Sheldon Adelson has done everything in his power to keep the company above ground, including selling common shares last Friday.

Even with the increase in financial liquidity, a top executive for the company has said that they are planning on cutting up to 11,000 jobs in Macau. Many of the jobs will come from the construction filed where workers were building multi-million dollar projects.

"Regrettably there will be people from Macau in the construction areas that we cannot continue to employ," said Sands' President for Asia, Stephen Weaver. He did indicate the company is trying to relocate some of the workers to other projects the company is working on.

The expansion projects are what has put Sands in this precarious financial situation in the first place. They were working on projects in Singapore, Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, and Macau. They are still planning on finishing the Singapore project.


Source : Financial Collapse
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]

No Bailout for Singapore Integrated Resort Sands project

IT’S OFFICIAL: Taxpayers’ money will not be used to bail out Las Vegas Sands.

Amid rife speculation over the past two weeks, the Government has made it clear that it will not step in to help the American gaming company whose mountain of debts is threatening to scuttle its plans to build one of Singapore’s two integrated resorts (IR).

Since Sands revealed that it was on the verge of bankruptcy, tongues have been wagging that it would receive a helping hand from the State.

The project — given the green light by officialdom in spite of vocal opposition from certain segments of society — was surrounded by much hype over the two IRs creating some 60,000 jobs, tripling visitor spending and raising national branding.

It was too strategic to let any of the IRs go belly up, went the chatter of analysts and bloggers.

After all, s:tate bailouts are back in vogue since the onset of the financial crisis. Britain and the United States have taken stakes in ailing banks as a way of saving these too-big-to-fail giants that form the backbone of their economies.

Yesterday, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran laid down the facts.

:“There has been no request for a government bailout by Marina Bay Sands and neither does the Government intend to do one,” he said bluntly.

Speaking hours after Sands boss Sheldon Adelson pledged a second cash infusion into his company, Mr Iswaran said the news gave the “assurance” that Sands had sufficient resourcesto finance the US$4.5-billion($6.7 billion) IR.

:Instead, the IR “has always been a commercial project and the solutions to the challenges posed by the current economic environment and the financial market situation, lie in the commercial sector as well”, he said on the sidelines of a business conference.

:What about the possibility of a Government-linked company stepping in?

:Mr Iswaran said: “Government-linked companies are commercial enterprises. They have to make their own decisions on whether an investment makes sense for them or not. It’s not for the Government to tell them what to do.”

:Still, observers have already singled out some names as possible investors: State-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings and CapitaLand, a property developer partly held by Temasek.

:CapitaLand, however, recently stated it would make an acquisition only if it were “at the right time, right price” and when target returns were fulfilled.

:The Marina IR is slated to be completed by end-next year, but the Singapore Tourism Board is now reviewing Sands’ request to adjust the timeline.

:According to their contract, both the Government and Sands have certain rights, including to exact penalties for delays. Before deciding to exercise those rights, the Government will monitor the situation closely, said Mr Iswaran.

:He added that although delays in parts of the project could lead to some of the IR’s projected jobs being put on hold, there was no reason to think a big portion of the jobs would be lost.

:The stakes are high for the Singapore economy. Just as much -- if not more -- is at stake for Mr Adelson and the casino empire he built from scratch.

:When the gaming magnate said late Tuesday that he was pumping in another US$525 million into Sands -- on top of the US$475-million infusion last month -- he showed his determination to keep the business alive.

:Mr Adelson also showed where his priorities lay when Sands decided to halt the development of its Macau casinos, to focus on the Singapore project.

RELATED NEWS

Sands suspends construction in LV, Macau

Las Vegas Sands Corp. told investors Monday it's stopping construction on its $600 million Strip condominium tower and shelving some of its development plans in China.

Company President Bill Weidner said the changes could reduce Las Vegas Sands' capital expenses by $1.8 billion.

"We are going to right size our development pipeline," Weidner said.

Also, Las Vegas Sands announced plans for a $2.14 billion capital raising program with Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs. The family of Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson will participate in the capital raising project. Details of the capital infusion will be available in a prospectus to be filed later, he said.

Also, Rob Goldstein, the president of the company's Venetian and Palazzo properties on the Strip, said the company will undergo cost-cutting measures in Las Vegas to save about $100 million.

The moves are being undertaken to right the ship of the listing casino operator.

Last week, Las Vegas Sands told investors it was in danger of defaulting on some of its loans, raising the possibility the company could be forced into bankruptcy.

Las Vegas Sands announced its plans during a scheduled conference call with analysts and investors to discuss quarterly earnings for the period that ended Sept. 30. The call was delayed by about 40 minutes because "several things were still coming together," Weidner said. The company was also attempting to file its quarterly statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the quarter, Las Vegas Sands said its loss narrowed to $32.2 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with a loss of $48.5 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Las Vegas Sands to earn 11 cents per share.

Las Vegas Sands said revenues rose companywide to $1.11 billion compared with $694.3 million last year.

In Las Vegas, operating income at The Venetian and Palazzo was $6.1 million, compared with $29.6 million a year ago. Casino revenues on the Strip were $113.2 million for the quarter, an increase of 36.2 percent compared with $83.1 million a year ago. Hotel revenues were $130.5 million, a 57.2 percent increase compared with $83 million in the same quarter a year ago.

The increases were attributed to the Palazzo, which opened in January.

"Our third-quarter results reflect solid operating performance, with both revenues and adjusted property (cash flow) increasing substantially in both Las Vegas and Macau, despite challenging operating environments in each market," Weidner said.

Before announcing earnings, Las Vegas Sands said it was suspending indefinitely construction of its St. Regis condominium tower on the Strip. Weidner said the podium deck would be completed in order to collect rent on some of the prospective tenants, but the tower would be delayed.

In Bethlehem, Pa., the company will develop the casino portion of the $675 million Sands Bethlehem, which will include a 3,000-slot machine casino, restaurants and a 3,500-space parking garage. Other areas, such as retail portions and other entertainment attractions, will be delayed. The casino is expected to open by the end of June.

Meanwhile, several of the company's planned Cotai Strip development sites will be shelved until market conditions allow for additional expansion opportunities.

"Given the current conditions in the global credit environment, we have elected to significantly slow the pace of our development activities on the Cotai Strip, including a suspension of our development on sites five and six of the Cotai Strip," Weidner said.

Weidner said the company will continue to pursue financing to complete construction of the first phase of the Cotai Strip, including a Shangri-La/Traders hotel, an 1,800-room Sheraton hotel and three casinos.

"Our temporary suspension program will enable us to re-commence development in an efficient fashion, should sufficient capital to complete phase one of our development plans become available on reasonable terms," Weidner said.

Las Vegas Sands said it was moving forward with plans to build the $4 billion Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. The company said the capital raising program would help fund the Singapore development.

The capital raising program may also help the company meet some of its debt obligations.

In a filing with the SEC last week, the company told investors it was in danger of not meeting obligations to its lenders on a $3.8 billion portion of its debt unless it can raise capital, cut spending on developments or lift its Las Vegas earnings by the end of the year.

In its filing, Las Vegas Sands said it was in jeopardy of missing certain financial covenant requirements and needs to raise more capital.

The company disclosed a letter from its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, in which the accounting firm wrote that a default would raise "substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern."

Las Vegas Sands announced earnings after trading closed Monday. Shares of the company closed up 97 cents, or 13.8 percent, to finish at $8 on the New York Stock Exchange. A year ago, the company was trading at $122.96 a share.

Source : TodayOnline & Hotels
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]

Macau eyes Malaysian visitors

MACAU will be celebrating its 55th year in Grand Prix racing in November this year and the country hopes to see more Malaysians joining in the fun.

“It is now so easy to get to Macau, whether it is for the GP or for leisure, especially with the expansion of air routes and more flights between Macau and Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Johor Baru,” said Tunku Datuk Seri Iskandar Tunku Abdullah during the launch of “Experience Macau'' recently.

Macau beckons: (From left) Chui, Gu Jingqi and Antunes launching the ‘Experience Macau’ event recently.

Iskandar said Air Asia had 46 flights weekly to Macau while Malaysia Airlines had more than 50. Last year, tourist arrivals to Macau exceeded 27 million, a surge of 22.7% over 2006. In the first two months this year, visitor arrivals were up 4.7 million, including 400,000 Malaysians, – an increase of 13.9%It achieved a growth of 98% over the same period in 2006.

The three-day promotion held in Kuala Lumpur themed “See, Feel, Touch and Hear the Difference of Macau'' was attended by travel industry representatives, media and tourism officials of both countries.

“The five senses depict the image of Macau’s multi-faceted tourism products of both heritage as well as the new developments which we hope will attract more Malaysians to experience the destination,” said Iskandar.

The event was held to strengthen ties and exchange knowledge with the travel industry in the country and increase tourism cooperation between Malaysia and Macau.

Also at the launch were Macau Special Administrative Region Government Social Affairs and Culture secretary Dr Chui Sai On, China Embassy deputy head and counsellor Gu Jingqi and Macau Government Tourist Office director Joao Manuel Costa Antunes.

Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]

Kuching-Macau flight for RM39.99 by AirAsia

Budget airline AirAsia is offering a four-month promotional fare of RM39.99 for its Kuching-Macau flight, which will be launched on Nov 15.

The fare excludes airport taxes, fuel surcharges and fees, and is for one-way travel.

The thrice-weekly flight is AirAsia’s first international connection from Sarawak.

AirAsia Kuching station manager Shanmugamnathan Suppiah said as Macau was an important gateway to Hong Kong and southern China, the direct service would boost the state's tourism.

Sarawak Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer Gracie Geikkie (centre) shake hand with Air Asia station manager Shanmugamnathan together in picture are Sarawak Tourism Federation President Wee Hon Seng (left).

“The Macau route is highly popular among tourists connecting from southern China, Hong Kong and Macau to Kuala Lumpur,” he told reporters at the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) office in Bangunan Yayasan Sarawak here.

He said AirAsia would consider mounting daily flights if there was good demand from travellers.

STB chief executive officer Gracie Geikie urged local tour operators and hoteliers to come up with special packages to attract expatriates from Macau, and Chinese nationals in the mainland and Hong Kong to spend their holidays in Sarawak.

“ We will meet travel agents and tour operators in Macau, Hong Kong and China to promote the Kuching-Macau service,” she added.

Geikie said the direct flight would reduce travel costs and time for those travelling to Sarawak via Macau and vice-versa.

She also hoped AirAsia would introduce direct flights from Sarawak to other popular destinations like Bangkok.

Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2007]

KL & Macau Tourism Pact

Malaysia and Macau will work together in areas of advertising, tour package development, homestay programmes, and health and convention tourism. Both countries will exchange tourism market information, market research experience and opportunities for mass media to promote tourism.

The understanding was reached yesterday in an MoU between Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board and Macau Government Tourist Office.

MGTO director Joao Manuel Costa Antunes and Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Mirza Mohamad Taiyab signed the MoU at the opening ceremony of the Malaysia-Macau Economic Co-operation seminar here. Also present was Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.


Source : NST
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2007]