Sands China bets on smart technology, boosts shareholder returns

Sands China executives said smart-table technology is set to play a growing role in reshaping Macau’s gaming landscape, following its success in Singapore.
In an earnings call last week, Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein said the group is “moving toward this in Macau,” noting that the market is already adapting to the technology.

Echoing Goldstein’s remarks, Grant Chum, chief executive officer and president of Sands China Ltd., stated, “Smart technology helps us to understand what is happening at the table. Independent of that is the player propensity; it’s not one leading the other.”

Chum pointed out that while Macau’s market has a smaller mix of side bets compared to Singapore, the trend is growing: “It’s also rising, and it has contributed to enhancing the house edge over the past several years.”

Chum added, “The layouts are being reinvented every few months with additional side wagers. On the smart tables, we in Macau have actually fully rolled out all of the smart-table technology on non-rolling baccarat tables, and we are in the process of completing the rollout in the rolling segment. Within the next few months, we should be able to gauge performance across the total baccarat table pool.”

Goldstein added, “It’s very helpful for not just this company but others to make gambling more interesting and more diversified.” He also emphasized that the appeal of smart tables is broad: “I don’t think it’s tied to the high end […] mass customers love it too. Small bettors, large bettors – you bet the sportsbook, the biggest props, the small guys, the guys betting $100 a game – they love betting props. I think baccarat is similar to sports betting in that regard.”

Shareholder return initiatives emphasized
Despite being headquartered in Las Vegas, all of LVS’s gambling operations are in Asia – with five in Macau and one in Singapore.

Earlier this year, the company stated its belief that the best use of capital in the near term is to buy back shares of both Las Vegas Sands and Sands China.

LVS repurchased USD500 million of its stock during the quarter and paid a recurring quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share. Additionally, LVS expanded its ownership in Sands China, buying $337 million worth of shares in recent months to reach 74.76%, edging close to the 75% public float cap imposed by Hong Kong’s stock exchange regulations.

Dumont confirmed this intent during the Q3 call, reaffirming the company’s capital allocation approach of balancing growth investments with shareholder returns.

“We are a capital allocation story and a return-to-capital story,” Dumont said. “We invest for high returns; when those investments aren’t available, we return capital via dividends and share buybacks. We have nearly reached the limit for our Sands China stake but will continue returning value.” This capital return approach also underpins the company’s decision not to bid for a casino license in New York.