Gaming Adelson predicts Macau high roller rebound in two months

The VIP gambling business in Macau could see a recovery in two months, after a Chinese government crackdown on corruption sapped demand, Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson said.
Chinese players have been “staying below the radar” by refraining from going to Macau and spending money in ostentatious ways, Adelson said yesterday at the Global Gaming Expo, the industry’s annual trade show in Las Vegas. “They don’t want to send the message they may be corrupt.”
Sands and some of its biggest U.S.-based competitors have relied on Asia for growth as U.S. casino hubs, including Las Vegas, slumped in the aftermath of the 2008 credit crisis. Macau, the world’s largest gambling market, has shown rapid growth that stalled in recent months. Shares of the Sands China Ltd. unit, which operates properties in Macau, have dropped by about one-third since early July.
“Everything is cyclical,” said Adelson, 81. “It’s like gambling. Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down.”
China’s campaign against lavish spending by party officials has reached its goals, the government-run Xinhua news agency reported Sept. 30, citing a statement after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. The push against misbehavior may be ending, Xinhua said.
The Xinhua report was referring to a specific program, rather than the broader anti-corruption drive that has slowed luxury sales in Asia, Cameron McKnight, an analyst at Wells Fargo & Co., wrote in a note to clients. A pick-up in anti- corruption scrutiny is possible, McKnight said.
Adelson also said he would be interested in building a casino at the Meadowlands racetrack in New Jersey, if proposals to expand casino gambling beyond Atlantic City were approved by state legislators.
Sands shares had dropped 22 percent in New York this year through Friday.
Sands China declined 2.4 percent to HK$40.50 on Sept. 30, before financial markets in Hong Kong closed for the two-day national holiday.
Industry wide revenue in Macau may have declined as much as 13 percent in September, Secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam said to the media last week. MDT/Bloomberg