http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... refer=homeLas Vegas Sands Soars 80% After Talks With Singapore GovernmentBy Beth Jinks and Jean Chua
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. soared a record 80 percent in New York trading after the Singapore government said it was in talks with the casino company to help finish a $4 billion casino project in the city-state.
The Singapore Tourism Board will ``facilitate the success'' of the project in downtown Singapore, the agency said. It didn't say how it would help or if it will provide financial support.
Singapore's tourism agency ``is monitoring the situation and is aware that the current uncertain economic climate may give rise to concerns,'' it said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. It is ``working closely'' with the company's Singapore unit, Marina Bay Sands.
The talks with Singapore follow the casino operator's hiring of an investment bank last week to raise more capital with the help of billionaire Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson. Las Vegas Sands fell 95 percent this year through yesterday, compared with the 36 percent decline in the Standard and Poor's 500 Index.
Las Vegas Sands rose $3.96 to $8.91 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest increase since the Las Vegas-based company's 2004 initial stock sale.
The surge may have been fueled by purchases of stock by short-sellers who needed to cover their positions when the stock initially gained.
Las Vegas Sands spokesman Ron Reese declined to comment.
Wynn, Melco Crown
Other gaming stocks rose in tandem. Wynn Resorts Ltd. jumped 25 percent to $41.05 and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. gained 25 percent to $3.57.
``Las Vegas has very legitimate balance sheet issues and concerns, the probability of them being able to address those seems to be improving,'' said Jake Fuller, a New York-based analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners. ```That stock sold off the most as concerns about liquidity in the world in general heightened.''
Investor sentiment toward Las Vegas Sands may also be benefiting from the Federal Reserve's attempts to thaw the frozen credit markets, with loans recently given to companies including MGM Mirage. The Fed is pumping more than $1 trillion in short- term cash loans in the banking system and began buying short-term corporate debt.
MGM Mirage, the casino company majority-owned by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, rose 33 percent to $13.75, the most in almost 19 years, after shelving two planned developments and outlining cost cuts that will save $500 million a year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Beth Jinks in New York at
[email protected]; or Jean Chua in Singapore at
[email protected]Last Updated: October 29, 2008 21:43 EDT
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:49 pm
