Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Rob Goldstein acknowledged that the company “underperformed” in the Macau market during 2Q25, attributing the shortfall to insufficient customer reinvestment programs against the company’s target of $2.7 billion annual EBITDA for Sands China.
This sentiment emerged during an earnings call following the release of LVS’s 2Q25 financial results.
Rob Goldstein, Chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, stated, “Macao did $566 million of EBITDA for the quarter. We have underperformed in this market.” He attributed this to an initial conservative approach, admitting the company “was not aggressive enough as it relates to customer reinvestment. We believed our billings would be enough. We were wrong.” In response, a more assertive customer reinvestment program was implemented in late April.
Grant Cham, CEO and President of Sands China, elaborated on the strategic shift. “Around late April, we started to implement a more aggressive customer reinvestment program,” Cham noted. He added that the company is “seeing some encouraging initial results from those increased levels of reinvestment. As we get into May and June, the performance of SCL did improve.”
Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Sands, echoed this sentiment, stating, “We’re not where we want to be at Macao.” He underscored the company’s focus on improving performance, recognizing that “we have work to do in our reinvestment programs.” Dumont reaffirmed the company’s commitment to driving revenue and cash flow growth across its Macau portfolio, particularly at The Londoner Macao.
According to the financial results, net revenues from Macau operations – where the company runs a portfolio of casino properties – were just under $1.80 billion in the second quarter, an increase of 2.5 percent compared with the April to June 2024 period. Net income for Sands China was $214 million in the second quarter of 2025, down 13.0 percent compared to $246 million a year earlier.
Discussion also touched upon capital allocation and dividend payouts. Notably, Sands China paid its first dividend in five years in mid-June, distributing a final dividend of HK$0.25 ($0.032) per share for the financial year ending December 31st, 2024.
Dumont indicated that the company remains focused on returning capital to shareholders through dividends at the SCL level. He mentioned that as capital expenditure related to The Londoner Macao’s significant investment rolls off, the company would “look to return to increasing the dividend over time with the support of the Sands China Board.”
Events “rearrange” rather than create new business
The role of non-gaming events, such as concerts, in driving visitation was also a key topic, as analysts have mentioned that concerts have been a major driver in beating June’s low seasonality.
When asked by an equity analyst how to make this sustainable, executives offered differing perspectives on the impact of entertainment programming.
Grant Cham highlighted Macau’s growing reputation as a regional entertainment hub. “Macau has really been successful in establishing itself as a regional center for entertainment, be it from Greater China artists, Asian artists, and even international artists,” Cham stated. He affirmed that the calendar of events is continually being filled by operators, contributing to the market’s appeal.
However, Rob Goldstein offered a more nuanced view on the actual business impact of major entertainment events. Drawing from the company’s experience across markets, he noted, “I think it was last year, I wouldn’t give credit in Singapore because Taylor Swift made the whole thing happen. She wasn’t available this quarter. We still did pretty well.”
Goldstein emphasized that while Macau has “lots of events,” his experience has taught him that “events just rearrange the customer visitation. They don’t necessarily create new [business] as much as they rearrange when people come and go.” This suggests that while high-profile entertainers like “Jacky Cheung and some of these high-end entertainers” help attract visitors, their primary impact is on timing rather than generating entirely new customer bases.
Despite this measured view on events, Goldstein expressed optimism about Macau’s overall market strength. “I think that market is just showing strength,” he said, pointing to June results as evidence of building momentum. He noted that during his recent visit, “it looked for the first time like pre-pandemic Macau, very strong, lots of people at the tables.”
The CEO concluded that while entertainment calendars are “chock full of events” and “everyone has entertainment these days and terrific restaurants,” investors should focus on “the overall results in the last few months to be very encouraged” about where Macau appears to be heading. He advised not being overly concerned with event counts, as the underlying market fundamentals suggest sustainable strength beyond individual entertainment programming.
