Las Vegas Sands Q1 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Participants

Corporate Executives

• Daniel Briggs, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
• Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
• Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer
• Grant Chum, Senior Vice President of Global Gaming Strategy
• Wilfred Wong, President and Chief Executive Officer

Analysts

• Joe Greff, J.P. Morgan
• Stephen Grambling, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
• Shaun Kelley, Bank of America Co.
• Robin Farley, UBS Group AG
• Carlo Santarelli, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft
• George Choi, Smith Barney Citigroup
• Chad Beynon, Macquarie
• David Katz, Jefferies Financial Group Inc.
• Steven Wieczynski, Stifel Nicolaus
• Ben Chaiken, Credit Suisse Group AG

Presentation

[Operator]

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Sands First Quarter 2022 earnings conference call. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Mr. Daniel Briggs, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations at Sands. Sir, the floor is yours.

[Daniel Briggs, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations at Las Vegas Sands]

Thank you, Paul. Joining the call today are Rob Goldstein, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Patrick Dumont, our President and Chief Operating Officer. Also joining are Dr. Wilfred Wong, President of Sands China; and Grant Chum, Chief Operating Officer of Sands China. Today's conference call will contain forward-looking statements that we're making under the Safe Harbor Provision of federal securities laws. The Company's actual results could differ materially from the anticipated results in those forward-looking statements. In addition, we may discuss non-GAAP measures. A definition and a reconciliation of each of these measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures is included in the press release. We have posted supplementary earnings slides on our Investor Relations website. We may refer to those slides during the Q&A portion of the call. Finally, for those who would like to participate in the Q&A session, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up, so we might allow everyone with interest the opportunity to participate. Please note that this presentation is being recorded. With that, I'll turn the call over to Rob.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Thanks, Dan. Good afternoon and good morning to our colleagues in Asia. Some brief comments, then we'll go to Q&A. Our results continue to reflect the pandemic's impact, the travel restrictions, suppressed visitation, our financial results in both Macao and Singapore this quarter. We did generate positive EBITDA for the quarter in Singapore and for the company in total. The good news in Singapore is that travel carters established last quarter have been replaced with an introduction of the backstage traveler framework which allows vaccinated travelers to enter Singapore much the same way as prior to the pandemic. In short terms, we are open for business in Singapore.

Our conviction in the long-term opportunity in the Singapore market remains steadfast, $1 billion capital investment currently underway at MBS would introduce luxurious new suite products and amenities at that Resort. In Macao our considerable investments [Technical Issues] are nearing completion. As the market recovers, Four Seasons Londoner will provide growth opportunities in both the premium and mass customer segments. We continue to have the largest footprint in the Macao marketplace and we appreciate the opportunity to provide input in the public consultation process, and we look forward to participating in the re-tendering process as well.

While the current quarter results in Macao were impacted severely by the enhanced travel restrictions in China, customer demand and spending in Macao have proven resilient at the premium mass level from both the gaming and retail perspective in periods when the restrictions have been relaxed. We remain confident we will return to positive cash flow in both Macao and Singapore in the future as restrictions are eased and travel and tourism recover. We consider our portfolio of resorts in Asia to be a [indecipherable] platform for growth for years ahead. In addition, we continue to pursue opportunities to develop large scale resorts in both United States and Asia. The sale of Las Vegas was completed this quarter which creates additional liquidity and optionality.

Lastly we continue to build out our digital presence and to explore multiple opportunities. We will provide additional color at the appropriate time. Let's go to your questions. Questions.

Questions and Answers

[Operator]

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen [Operator Instructions] And the first question is coming from Joe Greff from JP Morgan. Joe, your line is live.

[Joe Greff, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Hello, everyone. I thank you for taking my question. Robert, love to get a little bit more detail on the recent experience in Singapore with the detailed framework. And can you tell us, or share with us business volume, visitation improvements in March and April to-date. And when we kind of look at the first quarter and looking at the $121 million of hold [Phonetic] normalized EBITDA, how much of that was sort of the last month of the quarter given the benefit from more international inbound tourism?

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Yeah, Joe, it's a fair question. The [indecipherable] MBS was clearly driven -- it moved upward as you went along. It started $17 million in January, went to $46 million in February. We had $58 million of EBITDA in March, and that trajectory is continuing, the momentum is going upward in April. I think, look, Singapore is back and we'll experience the same post COVID numbers you've seen in the US in my opinion. The question is how fast as we get there. The demand is there, it will continue assuming there is no more surprises from the COVID situation. We like to think that Singapore [indecipherable] to a $1 billion run rate in this year. So $58 million in March, feels pretty good, and that momentum is continuing.

[Joe Greff, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Great, that's helpful. And typically I'm not going to follow in the calculated question, but [indecipherable] mature to ask. Can you talk about Thailand and sort of that as integrated Resort opportunity and what the latest is there. I know there have been press reports with your efforts in that as an opportunity.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Yeah, I think it's premature, Joe, and we're looking at a lot of different things in Asia and that's certainly list of things, but I think it's premature to get ahead of ourselves there. I'll pass on that.

[Joe Greff, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Great, thank you guys.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Sure.

[Operator]

Thank you. And the next question is coming from Stephen Grambling from Goldman Sachs. Stephen, your line is live.

[Stephen Grambling, Analyst at The Goldman Sachs Group]

Hey, thank you. Maybe sticking with new development opportunities, there's obviously been a lot of back and forth in New York, specifically New York city, different boroughs, even seeing some headlines around Time Square. Just curious what you're seeing there, how we should think about that as an opportunity.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Well, the US has been on our radar for a long time. We continue to be in the hunt there. I don't want to get into specific borough [Phonetic] locations because I think that's proprietary [Phonetic] but we remain interested. I think it's a huge market for us, we've been very clear about that in the past. The process is quite a long way to go. And we'll just keep you posted as we hear and learn things, but we're in on and we'll see it works out for us.

[Stephen Grambling, Analyst at The Goldman Sachs Group]

And then you did mention you'll discuss digital when the time is right and they obviously say patience is a virtue which is clearly paid off looking at some of these stocks. So as you think about the opportunity set in front of you, has anything changed in terms of your thinking of what areas of the industry might be more or less interesting to dig into even before considering where the investment might end up.

[Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

So, it's Patrick, how're you doing? So I think nothing has really changed in our view, we take a very long-term perspective on digital. I think our comments have been pretty consistent across the quarters. We're really in a growth in investment stage. So it's very early on. When we have something to talk about, we'll definitely start discussing it, but at this point, it's at very early stage we're building a team and looking forward to the future.

[Stephen Grambling, Analyst at The Goldman Sachs Group]

So maybe one last one if I could sneak it in then. So since the development opportunities feel like they're still pushed out and you've got some proceeds in from Vegas. I think you maybe had mentioned this in the remarks, but just remind us in terms of thinking about capital allocation priorities. I mean is buyback something that's on the table or that you'd be thinking about with some of those proceeds or do you feel like there's enough other things to spend the money on the near term. Thank you.

[Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

No problem. This is a question that I think we get pretty often. I'll refer the answers that we gave on our last quarterly call, but I think the key thing to take away is we're very focused on new development. The sale of Las Vegas was really to reinvest capital in high growth opportunities that we think are unique to our company. We feel very strongly about our development capabilities and our ability to execute large scale developments in new markets, and we think there's a lot of them out there, a lot of potential. And so we're waiting to see what could come forward and as Rob said where we can invest to get the highest returns.

In terms of return of capital, I think we've always said that the dividend is really the cornerstone of our return of capital program. Some of that we want to look at in terms of really long term operational cash flow growth, and then will size it accordingly and look to that to recur before we actually start the dividend again. In terms of share repurchases, we always had been opportunistic to return capital that way as well. If you look at our our past we've actually returned a fair amount of capital through share repurchases when we felt that we had the excess liquidity. So I think at this point order of priority is to make sure we get out of the pandemic, make sure we have ample liquidity and a projected balance sheet to ensure that we recover from our pandemic operations. We can support our local host market, support our team members as we go through that process. And we're going to focus on new development and growth and invest in our existing markets, which we've been doing throughout the pandemic, and then we'll look to restart the dividend as operating cash flows recover. And then lastly, I think we'll look at share repurchases when the opportunities arise.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Let's not forget that we are investing $1 billion currently in Singapore. We're trying to invest more in Singapore. And we think Macao when things reopen might be opportunistic as well. People forget how much capital we could put to work in our existing marketplaces.

[Stephen Grambling, Analyst at The Goldman Sachs Group]

Fair enough. Makes sense. Thanks so much.

[Operator]

Thank you. And the next question is coming from Shaun Kelley from Bank of America. Shaun, your line is live.

[Shaun Kelley, Analyst at Bank of America]

Hi, good afternoon, everyone. Just maybe to actually touch on Macao for a minute. Rob, there have been some fits and starts as it relates to the reopening in Hong Kong and I think some positive progress there as case counts have come down. Any sign posts maybe out of that market and maybe reconnecting now at Macao that the local team could give us some color on?

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Sure. Grant, you're on the call?

[Grant Chum, Senior Vice President of Global Gaming Strategy at Las Vegas Sands]

Yes, good morning, good afternoon. Yeah, thank you for the question. Yeah, I mean at this stage there is no new information on news in terms of quarantine free travel from Hong Kong to Macao. I think Hong Kong cases have been improved, but we're not at the point where there is any change in quarantine policy.

[Shaun Kelley, Analyst at Bank of America]

Grant, maybe just to clarify. Is that specifically as it relates to its interaction with Macao or what about for visitors coming from overseas possibly opening up a corridor to Singapore, so maybe help us think a little bit more broadly, if you could.

[Grant Chum, Senior Vice President of Global Gaming Strategy at Las Vegas Sands]

I'm sorry. Are you referring to overseas visitors from [indecipherable]

[Shaun Kelley, Analyst at Bank of America]

Yeah, from either I think arriving in Hong Kong and then I guess coming in from Midtown [Phonetic] places or leaving Kong and going to places like Singapore.

[Grant Chum, Senior Vice President of Global Gaming Strategy at Las Vegas Sands]

So sorry, you're asking question about people going to Singapore or to Macao?

[Shaun Kelley, Analyst at Bank of America]

Well, specifically talking about -- just is there any sign that Hong Kong is loosening up its overall visitation policy because it's been pretty closed from the external perspective? I guess that's where I'm trying to go.

[Grant Chum, Senior Vice President of Global Gaming Strategy at Las Vegas Sands]

Sorry, are you asking about Hong Kong?

[Shaun Kelley, Analyst at Bank of America]

Yes.

[Grant Chum, Senior Vice President of Global Gaming Strategy at Las Vegas Sands]

They have relaxed. So non residents can now travel to Hong Kong from May 1, and that was -- that hasn't been possible for some time. So you can go to Hong Kong from next month from overseas into Hong Kong, but you still have to be subject to quarantine policy once you enter Hong Kong.

[Shaun Kelley, Analyst at Bank of America]

Understood. Thank you very much.

[Grant Chum, Senior Vice President of Global Gaming Strategy at Las Vegas Sands]

But...

[Operator]

Thank you.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Is there something more to say, Grant? I think we cut you off. Do you have more to say?

[Grant Chum, Senior Vice President of Global Gaming Strategy at Las Vegas Sands]

No, that's it. Thanks, Rob.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Okay, thank you. Next question please.

[Operator]

Our next question is coming from Robin Farley from UBS. Robin, your line is live.

[Robin Farley, Analyst at UBS Group]

Great, thanks. I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about Singapore and any change in the composition of business there in terms of what's coming back. Is it more mass? Is it more VIP? Is it higher win per visitor than what you saw before or just more absolute number of visitors? Kind of what are you seeing sort of come back first? Thanks.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

The answer is yes, it's all coming back, I mean the demand over there for -- in the month of March we saw outsized demand from free independent travelers on the pure leisure side, we saw premium mass, we saw high end plays coming out of all over the rim. I just things Singapore has unique position. It's -- obviously Macao is in a difficult place right now so people are going to gravitate to other opportunities. They want to travel, they're no different than what we've seen here in the US. I think our MBS product is in a very, very unique opportunistic window here. We're hoping Macao opens up obviously sooner but until it does, I think you'll see a lot more demand and typical. I think it's from all segments. The team there is feeling very good about what happened in the month of March. And again it's leisure travel, it's casino, the VIP Casino, it's premium mass casinos, mass casino, it's universal and it feels like we're in the middle of a very positive beginning, and hopefully without a COVID interruption or change in policy I believe MBS is going to be very productive '22.

[Robin Farley, Analyst at UBS Group]

Great, thanks. And then my follow-up question is about, you had an announcement a week or two ago about -- it's probably a small investment and I think it was sort of an integrity-related business for online sports setting. And I wonder if you could just talk about that because it all -- it seems like there are some B2B online sports companies that already sort of provide that kind of for free as part of their services between the leagues and the Sportsbook. And so I just -- I wonder if you could talk about what interested you in that angle or what's different about that and kind of what's offered almost for free, really by the other OSB B2B providers. Thanks.

[Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Sorry, it's Patrick, and I think what you'll see over time is us make investments in small companies where we think they have a competitive advantage in the B2B space that has a lot of growth potential, and also where we think over time we may form it to a larger platform. So from our standpoint, we're looking at a variety of different businesses that are start up early stage in order to make sure that we stay in front of technological innovation in our industry. And so this is part of a broader strategy. It is a relatively small investment relative to Las Vegas Sands. But we think over time, this investment and others will help contribute to our overall digital efforts. So I'm not going to get into the exact thesis behind every investment that we do. There is a long-term plan for what we're approaching. I think over time, you'll start to see how that evolves.

[Robin Farley, Analyst at UBS Group]

Okay, thank you.

[Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Thanks, Robin.

[Operator]

Thank you. And the next question is coming from Carlo Santarelli from Deutsche Bank. Carlo, your line is live.

[Carlo Santarelli, Analyst at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft]

Hey, guys. Thank you. I just have two kind of timeline related questions. And I don't know Rob maybe best to answer the first, and then perhaps something on -- color on Macao and the timeline there, but just in terms of MBS, obviously construction and things along those lines in this type of environment, it's very hard to predict. And I have not gotten a chance to get through the slides yet to see if there are any changes to kind of your expectation for the timeline there, but what are some of the goalposts in terms of construction on that. And then secondarily, as it pertains to the tender process and whatnot in Macao, how do you guys see the timeline for that shaping up as we move through the rest of 2022?

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Hey, Carlo, in Singapore as you know we're underway in a rather extensive renovation, $1 billion plus renovation in Singapore that's underway as we speak, and it's going to take a while. It won't complete until the end of '23, but it's going to be a very -- or encompassing. We've had as everyone in [indecipherable] impacted by COVID both getting supplies and labor is an issue. But it's happy, it's underway. We're still working through our issues with IR2. We are not ready to talk about that today because we're still working through issues there. Same issues, supplies, labor, costs, et cetera. We intend to be IR1, again 23 IR2 is still open for interpretation. As for Macao timelines and the re-tendering, I'm going to turn it over to to Wilfred Wong to take that question. I mean Wilfred, you're best suited.

[Wilfred Wong, President and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Thank you. The timeline for re-tendering of the concession is progressing according to the timeline announced by the Macau SAR Government. Now currently, a few things at play. Two bills relating to the gaming law is -- has been approved by the Legislative Assembly and will be approved in full after the panel discussion before the end of this legislative session in August. And we are hearing all kinds of suggestions that it will be earlier than August. At this stage, we are going to be granted an extension of the current concession until the end of 2022, and that is the time that we expect the re-tendering exercise will be completed. And so after the amendment of the law then the re-tendering procedure will to start. A lot of information about the re-tender will come out. We are in the process of preparing for that re-tendering exercise and hopefully everything will be done before the end of 2022.

[Carlo Santarelli, Analyst at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft]

Wilfred, thank you. That's helpful. So just so I'm clear, in August you more or less have everything you need from the gaming law perspective and then that period from say, August, if not maybe earlier through December will be the formal tendering process when everything is more or less buttoned up. Is that the right interpretation?

[Wilfred Wong, President and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

That's right.

[Carlo Santarelli, Analyst at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft]

Great, thank you very much.

[Operator]

Thank you. The next question is coming from George Choi from Citigroup. George, your line is live.

[George Choi, Analyst at Smith Barney Citigroup]

Thank you, a couple of questions from me. Firstly, in Macao. The Macao core [Phonetic] has recently argued [Phonetic] that in a couple of your competitors are [indecipherable] liable for some illegal deposits [indecipherable] How do you see the likelihood that you guys will also be found liable for this potential liability after the recent close down of the major [indecipherable] there.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Grant, do you want to handle that?

[Grant Chum, Senior Vice President of Global Gaming Strategy at Las Vegas Sands]

Sure. Thanks, George, for the question. I think as you know the cessation of operations of all of these fixers and junket promoters obviously happened fairly recently in December of last year. And as a result of that, obviously there are some new court cases being raised, but there is stakeholders and participants in that system. Currently there is nothing material to report from Sands China perspective, but there are few cases ongoing, but none of them are material and we will continue to monitor the situation and obviously report back if there are any changes.

[George Choi, Analyst at Smith Barney Citigroup]

Thanks, guys. And I my second question is on your balance sheet. Now clearly the first quarter was quite difficult for your Macao Operations, it's putting a lot of stress on your balance sheet [indecipherable] China. When it gets to a point where Sunshine need to raise funds would you guys consider equity as an option or is the cost of debt still cheap enough that you would continue to look to raise funds from the debt capital market?

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Patrick?

[Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Hi, it's Patrick, how're you doing? So a couple of thoughts here. I think we're very optimistic about the launch of future Macao. We understand there's articles out about concerns around liquidity. I think we have a very strong balance sheet. Yes, we've received some stress over the last few years under the pandemic's tough operating conditions. I think we all have. But the good news is that our company as a group as a lot of liquidity. We have a lot of different options. I think the good news is also that we were an investment grade company during the pandemic, which says a lot about the market's view about our ability to raise additional capital. So from our standpoint, I think we have a lot of flexibility. Our balance sheet was designed to withstand shocks and a lot of variability with respect to our operating markets. I think we've proven that. And I think where we are today is we will look to see how the operations continue coming out of the pandemic, which hopefully is soon, look at our liquidity and make decisions based on available options. So I don't think we're stuck in one particular view. I think we have cash of the parent, we have cash around the system. We have an investment grade credit rating. We have access to credit markets. And I think the good news is we positioned ourselves well to benefit from the recovery on the other side. So I think we have a lot of flexibility and we'll use it [indecipherable]

[George Choi, Analyst at Smith Barney Citigroup]

That's very good color, thank you very much.

[Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Thanks, George.

[Operator]

Thank you. Next question is coming from Chad Beynon from Macquarie. Chad, your line is live.

[Chad Beynon, Analyst at Macquarie]

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. I wanted to ask about inflation. I know it's obviously something that people are a little bit more focused on here in North America and it's different in different regions of the world, but I'm wondering if you could kind of talk about the labor inflationary environment or employment situation in your key markets, Singapore and Macao, and how that could potentially impact margins when the business is fully recovered on the revenue side? Thanks.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

I don't want to say it's only about our business, obviously margins, inflation, it's a question we are always anticipating. But I would say that I believe the revenue side of the equation is going to more than take care of itself as far as margins. We're going to be really -- I'd be shocked if we don't see a big return in Singapore this year and then hopefully a big return in Macao in '23, I'm hoping maybe '22, I don't know. We don't have any visibility more than you do about what's going to happen in China to be clear. But I do think just like here in the US margins have gone very powerfully positive because the demand is there. I don't think Asians are any different. The equation is going to be driven by excess of revenue, I think in Singapore, we will see it this year. I believe and hope to see at Macao this year or next. As for the operating entities, Grant will you discuss that as you see as far as Macao for example in wage inflation. I don't, how to address that question.

[Grant Chum, Senior Vice President of Global Gaming Strategy at Las Vegas Sands]

Sure. I think right now Macao is in a slightly different situation. If you look at the wage trend, it's is very moderate if not flattish in terms of wage inflation, but obviously that's for reasons that are not hard to discern because there is pressure on employment since it's a tourism dependent economy. And then interestingly in terms of construction works costs are again either in-line with prior years or if not going down somewhat, again because of the demand-supply situation that's specific to Macao as a lot of large-scale works have moderated that will be completed. So at this stage we're not seeing any significant [indecipherable] on the inflation front. Of course, there are some supplies such as food and so on where we experience inflation, but obviously [indecipherable] for the totality of our business, this is not going to be material. But I think the important point is what Rob said, I think you also have to consider for our type of business, the revenue side of the equation, which I think is going to be the more dominant driver if obviously prices take off.

[Chad Beynon, Analyst at Macquarie]

Thanks.

[Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

And just sort of one of the thoughts, I think the important thing to note is where you'll see the impact of [indecipherable] is really in construction costs. And in materials that go into construction inputs or large-scale projects, you see that in the US. You'll see that in Singapore and you'll start to see that in other markets in Asia as people come out of the pandemic and really there is a pent-up demand pipeline of things that needs to get done, as well as the shortage of labor and a shortage of labor movement related to pandemic restrictions. So that is something that is a likely thing that -- to be seen. You're already experiencing a little bit of it in certain markets.

I think the other thing is, the good news is with inflation also comes pricing, and so our business is not tied into any long-term contracts. We have the ability to operate within the market. Singapore has always been a very high quality place for labor. It's been an expensive labor market. It's always been very tight and we've always [indecipherable] So I have faith in the team, faith in our execution capability to maintain margins through the cycle. I think that's really the nature of our business that we have pricing power, we have the ability to change rates as a hotel, as a consumer products company, and really work through the changing in inflation and in fact make that part of the business margin.

[Chad Beynon, Analyst at Macquarie]

Thanks, Patrick. And then separately just on kind of back on the digital portfolio opportunities that you talked about. Just given the current valuation change that we've seen in a lot of the public companies, has anything changed just in terms of the total amount of money that you want to invest in this space given that there might be some really good opportunities in the near-term just because of a valuation disconnect? Or are you still kind of disciplined in terms of the total amount that you had put forward towards this effort? Thank you.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

I believe we have to be disciplined, and the reason I say that is our core business -- and let's be honest, our balance sheet is [indecipherable] It's in a pretty good place. If our business returns in Singapore like we anticipate, and then behind that comes Macao we get back to $4 billion or $5 billion, $6 billion EBITDA, our investment portfolio approach may change as it relates to digital. But at this time we're going to say, what we're doing now it's been very disciplined, waiting for our core business to return because there is no one like us. If Macao comes back, I think it will be back hopefully sooner than later, [indecipherable] is coming back, we will be a very different place in six months or a year, and that may change our thinking. And I think it's pretty simple. We want to get back to our core strength, then we deal with other things at that time.

[Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

And I think one of the things that's important to note is we're very much focused on building rather than buying. We want to make sure that we create a lot of long-term value. Our company has a history of just being a platform for development and entrepreneurship and we taking that approach through our digital efforts in several different areas, and we think over time that will provide the most reward for shareholders. So we're very patient, we're thinking long term. And yes, there are cycles and valuations across the digital space. In our mind, we'll execute against our long-term strategy and take advantage where we can.

[Chad Beynon, Analyst at Macquarie]

Thanks. Appreciate it.

[Operator]

Thank you. The next question is coming from David Katz from Jefferies. David, your line is live.

[David Katz, Analyst at Jefferies Financial Group]

Hi, afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my question. With respect to the US land-based opportunity set that's out there, if you sort of have your druthers or have your wishes come to pass, what does the LVS US land based presence look like over time?

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Any place that's very large scale, buildings that can create large EBITDA, we're not looking to be a small regional player obviously so that limits the opportunities going to Texas, New York. We failed in Florida recently but we're not done with Florida, we're still looking at that. And there is very few places we can go and invest the kind of money we want to invest and the kind of returns we want. We're not going to be buying small businesses. So I think at this point as we talk to you today, we're happy in Texas, New York and perhaps Florida.

[David Katz, Analyst at Jefferies Financial Group]

Got it. Understood. Thanks very much.

[Patrick Dumont, President and Chief Operating Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Thanks, David.

[Operator]

Thank you. And the next question is coming from Steve Wieczynski from Stifel. Steve, your line is live.

[Steven Wieczynski, Analyst at Stifel Nicolaus]

Hey guys, good afternoon. Just one question for me. Rob, you talked about getting to that $1 billion, EBITDA run rate in Singapore by the -- potentially by the end of the year. And I'm not sure you're going to answer this, but is it fair to say that March and maybe more so April on a monthly run rate basis is enough to get you to that $1 billion run rate level. I'm just really trying to understand a little more how strong recent trends have been?

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Yeah, well I guess looking at March, you're at about $700 million run rate, you take it -- you annualize March and April looks better at this point. So I don't think it takes a lot to get there. I mean, to be honest I don't know why we wouldn't get there. We won't get into specific numbers in April, but the trending in Singapore as a reference earlier Robin -- somebody asked the question about what's happening in Singa -- it's outsized demand in all segments, so why wouldn't happen. I mean I think it's going to blow past $1 billion. Frankly, I think it should. It just depends on, if we see any pushback COVID restrictions. I mean, we have an outsized opportunity. Singapore is the best product that they have in the market today. Macao essentially is not available. I think we can be very well anyway in Singapore, but it's unique now. And I think it's -- it should hit $1 billion and better. The only negative there as you all know, China is still relatively close to us. So that's the market we'll miss. But we feel very confident of our prospects. In the last month things have gone from hesitancy to a full bore excitement about what's happening in Singapore. And I think the government, I think I hope they share our enthusiasm.

[Steven Wieczynski, Analyst at Stifel Nicolaus]

Okay, great. Thanks, Rob, really appreciate it.

[Operator]

Thank you. And the final question is coming from Ben Chaiken from Credit Suisse. Ben, Your line is live.

[Ben Chaiken, Analyst at Credit Suisse Group]

Hey, how's it going? I guess just a couple -- two or three follow-ups on Singapore. You mentioned $58 million in March, can you remind me, is that -- I believe there were some tax changes coming into play. I guess simplistically VIP and mass each go up roughly 300 basis points. Is that -- was that in March already in the numbers you mentioned?

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Yes. As of March 1 that was -- we were impacted by -- as of March 1 by the changes you referenced. Yes.

[Ben Chaiken, Analyst at Credit Suisse Group]

Coo, thank you. And then two, I think in the last few days, there's been some changes in Singapore regarding travel restrictions. Can you remind us maybe just refresh us where we are today versus where we were in March?

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Where we are today is basically -- if you're backstage you can get into Singapore pretty easily. There are still restrictions and you've got to be -- if you're in the Casino you've got be smoking or drinking water or something to be able to take your mask off, but pretty much it's -- if you're vaccinated you have full access to Singapore, it's a very different place than it was a month ago. So that's why we're still bullish on Singapore. This is quarantine free entry for all backstage travelers and no quota or number of daily arrivals, there is no more restrictions. So we're back to -- we're back in business in Singapore in a very positive way.

[Ben Chaiken, Analyst at Credit Suisse Group]

Got you. And then just last quick one, not to get ahead of ourselves but you mentioned $1 billion a few times, but why not -- I mean, you're doing $1.7 billion, right, pre-COVID? And the new hotel coming out -- like what-- is the billing just a round number to -- a trajectory or...

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Well, you say the [indecipherable] There is no no new hotel coming, we're not building any hotel yet. There's no new Hotel, there is a renovation of our current hotel. But we just see $1 billion as a benchmark, we think that's attainable. We're not trying to oversell it or get too excited ahead of ourselves. Let's see where it goes. We're looking at the results of the US. We're very excited what's happened in the US. The demand is there. We see no reason why Asia shouldn't keep ramping more positively. And I guess as you referenced, that's a very unique asset. $1.7 billion the peak was the performance of MBS. We get back to it some day? Yeah, I think we will, and then beyond that, but it won't be this year.

[Ben Chaiken, Analyst at Credit Suisse Group]

Cool. Thank you.

[Robert G. Goldstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Las Vegas Sands]

Sure.

[Operator]

Thank you. There are no other questions in queue. [Operator Closing Remarks]