Las Vegas Sands’ Improving Credit Metrics (LVS)
Things really must be getting better in Las Vegas, even if the city has one of the worst housing markets in the country. It may mostly be that Vegas casinos are winning from their Asian endeavors. Las Vegas Sands Corp.…
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S&P raised Las Vegas Sands’ corporate credit rating to ‘BB-‘ from ‘B’ and the new rating outlook is STABLE. The thesis for the report is that Las Vegas Sands should outperform S&P’s prior EBITDA targets for 2010 and should outperform for the next few years. The new Marina Bay Sands property in Singapore was the key driving force behind the call. S&P expects that EBITDA will be more than $600 million in 2010 and that it may hit $1.1 billion in 2011.
The area of caution is a reminder about having too much leverage. S&P noted that the company’s debt burden is above $10 billion and its cap-ex plans are roughly $4.3 billion in 2010 and 2011.
The move to ‘BB-‘ is still short of the BBB- needed to secure an investment grade rating. For now, S&P noted that further raises in the rating are limited due to a lack of clarity over the company’s future development projects.
JON C. OGG
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.