Seaport: Sands may resume dividends in 2025

Casino operator Sands China Ltd is expected to resume dividend payments as early as 2025, according to a note from Seaport Research Partners.

This move would mark a significant shift for the company, which has held off on dividend payments since the beginning of the pandemic.

Citing conversations with Sands China’s parent company, Las Vegas Sands, during the 2024 Seaport Annual Summer Conference, analyst Vitaly Umansky wrote that “Sands China would most likely see dividend restart in 2025, with scale of dividend dependent on performance post-Londoner completion.”

Umansky’s note quoted Sands executives as saying that “Hong Kong investors like dividends, so it makes sense to restart some dividends at Sands China.”

The resumption of dividends would come a year earlier than many analysts had anticipated, underscoring the company’s confidence in its recovery.

Sands China is one of three casino operators, alongside Melco Resorts and SJM resorts, that have yet to resume dividend payouts since the disruptions caused by the pandemic.

However, the size of the dividends will be contingent on the company’s performance after the completion of its ongoing Londoner Macao revamp project, which has involved significant rooms and gaming space closures.

Las Vegas Sands indicated it will prioritize share buybacks over dividend increases in the near term.

As the project progresses, the company expects Macau’s quarter-on-quarter to be “largely in-line” and the impact on revenues to be less severe as the number of rooms offline decreases.

Sands China also anticipates reopening the former Pacifica Casino and Sheraton, to be  renamed Londoner Grand, by December. Victoria Chan