Sands China Ltd (金沙中國), the Macau casino operator controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, posted a 17 percent climb in third-quarter profits as spending by middle-class Chinese gamblers boosted earnings.
Net income for the China unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp rose to US$326.7 million from US$278.3 million a year ago, according to a statement from the parent company yesterday. Net revenue jumped 37 percent to US$1.64 billion as the Macau operator benefited from its newest resort, Sands Cotai Central, that opened in April.
“Earnings growth came from the ramp-up of Sands Cotai Central and Venetian winning back mass market share,” Karen Tang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a research note to clients.
Sands China’s market share will likely expand to 23 percent by 2014, from 19 percent in the third quarter this year, she said.
Sands China has joined rivals such as Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd in expanding on Macau’s increasingly popular Cotai strip to reach more middle-class Chinese tourists in the world’s largest gambling hub. Macau casino revenue rose 3.2 percent to reach a record last month as promotions over the eight-day Golden Week holiday attracted tourists.
Middle-class Chinese tourists, who make up the bulk of Macau’s so-called mass market, have helped shore up growth even as high-stake bettors have cut back in a weaker economy.
Adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, increased 24 percent to US$485.6 million
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six