Having seen its Singapore icon Marina Bay Sands (MBS) achieve an annualized run rate of more than US$2 billion in Adjusted EBITDA in 4Q23, owner Las Vegas Sands says the sky is the limit with a new EBITDA goal of US$3 billion once construction of a fourth tower is complete.
Providing an update to investors after releasing financial results for both Q4 and FY23 on Thursday, which saw MBS record annual EBITDA of US$1.86 billion but a record US$544 million in the December quarter, LVS Chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein said he expects profit to continue growing over the next few years as ongoing upgrade works are complete.
However, he believes a planned US$3.3 billion expansion that will see a fourth tower added should push annual EBITDA above US$3 billion by 2030 – further cementing the property’s status as the most profitable IR in the world.
“We look at this asset as a US$2 billion asset today in annualized EBITDA but we think it can grow by 10% to 20% in the next three or four years,” he explained.
“Then hopefully, if we can finalize our plans with the government and they [approve] another building, we believe that could make us US$3 billion in projected EBITDA by the end of the decade. We see ourselves going to US$2.3 billion or US$2.4 billion [ponce renovations are complete], eventually going up to US$3 billion. We see huge growth in this asset and our only disappointment in Singapore is that we don’t have more space, because it’s a very desirable.
“That building is probably the most valuable hotel building ever built in the world and will just accelerate in the next few years.”
On progress of the fourth tower development, first announced in 2019 but since delayed due to the pandemic, LVS said they were hopeful of reaching an agreement with the government before the end of Q3.
“We’ve been in very close discussions with the government over many months,” said the company’s President and COO, Patrick Dumont. “There are a lot of moving parts here, a lot of things we need to satisfy because this is a project of national significance, so we want to make sure everyone is comfortable with it and we get all the proper approvals.
“We are hoping in the next quarter or two that we’ll get everything done. We’ve been making good progress, we’ve been visiting Singapore, so we’re hoping we get all the green lights we need and can get going soon.”
Dumont added that a recently announced US$750 million upgrade of Tower 3 would be mostly completed in time for Chinese New Year 2025.
