Las Vegas Sands bets on a winner in Macao

Las Vegas Sands Corp, the casino company expanding in Macao and Singapore, reported fourth-quarter earnings that met analysts' estimates as growth in the Chinese gambling market countered a US slump.

Excluding some items, profit totaled 3 cents a share, the Las Vegas-based company said yesterday in a statement, matching the average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company posted a net loss of $113.9 million compared with a loss of $136.5 million a year ago.

Macao accounted for about 80 percent of revenue in the quarter, as billionaire founder and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson invests in Asia to take advantage of record betting in the only part of China where casinos are legal. That helped counter a decline on the Las Vegas Strip, where resorts have slashed prices in response to a record two-year drop in corporate meetings and gambling.