Gaming alert | Deutsche Bank highlights Sands China as top pick

The Venetian Macao resort and casino, operated by Sands China

Deutsche Bank research house has said that its top pick for the Macau gaming sector is Sands China Ltd. due to its expected dividend yield of 8.8 percent.
It said that it expects for Sands China to declare an interim dividend of USD0.99 per share tomorrow, and an annual dividend of USD1.99, adding that the company could maintain this dividend level for the next three years.
The research house said that it expected Macau gaming stocks to show some short-term improvement next month due to the Chinese New Year, but reiterated its caution on the gaming sector, which has experienced a number of false starts in the past two years.
Credit Suisse issued a report earlier this week saying that its top pick was Galaxy Entertainment, followed by Sands China. It rated the two companies equally as set to “Outperform,” with target prices of USD35.7 and USD35.1, respectively.
Figures released this week from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) indicated that gaming revenue from the VIP segment declined 39.9 percent to MOP127.82 billion in 2015 compared to the previous year. On the other hand, mass-market gaming revenue shrank by 25.9 percent year-on-year to MOP103.02 billion. Last year, the mass-gaming market increased its share of total gaming to more than 44 percent, up from 41 percent in 2014. Staff Reporter