LOS ANGELES - STRUGGLING casino operator Las Vegas Sands said on Monday it suspended several projects, including sites in Macau, and has agreements to raise US$2.14 billion (S$3.2 billion) in new capital, including new funding from its billionaire chief executive, Mr Sheldon Adelson.
The announcement, amid worse-than-expected results for the third quarter, came after the company said on Thursday it was in danger of breaching lending conditions Dec 31 and defaulting on US$5.2 billion in revolving credit facilities secured by its Las Vegas operations.
Jefferies analyst Lawrence Klatzkin said the funding announcement eased worries that the company was headed for bankruptcy.
'The whole solvency risk question is gone,' he said.
'And if they really have this financing, then they can complete almost all the projects they were expecting on time.'
But the conference call took on a surreal air - starting more than 30 minutes late after President Bill Weidner said 'late-breaking events interceded'.
The company proceeded to give operating profit guidance for 2012, years beyond the current debt crisis, including an estimate of annual operating profit of US$1.26 billion out of a Singapore casino that has yet to be built, which was greeted with a sceptical question by an analyst.
Mr Adelson, 75, responded that the estimates were 'extraordinarily conservative'.
'We've scrubbed those numbers six ways to Sunday and it's difficult to get it down,' he said.
The 75-year-old founder controls 67 per cent of the company's shares with his wife Miriam Adelson.
The Adelsons personally loaned the company US$475 million this fall to avoid a funding crunch, but it is unclear how much cash the couple has left.
Shares fell 50 US cents, or 6.3 per cent, to US$7.50 in after-hours trading, after rising 13.8 per cent before the market closed.
Mr Weidner said the company expects to close its capital raising 'by the end of the week', adding details would be available in a regulatory filing by Tuesday.
Mr Adelson declined to answer analysts' questions about his participation, citing advice from a lawyer.
The company said it would indefinitely suspend development of its US$600 million St Regis condominium tower in Las Vegas, and temporarily shut down sites five and six on the Cotai Strip in Macau, including a Shangri-La/Traders hotel tower, a Sheraton hotel tower and three casinos.
The Macau sites cost US$1.16 billion so far and would cost another US$430 million through June to suspend.
The company said other projects, however, were still on track, including the US$2.7 billion Marina Bay Sands to open in Singapore at the end of 2009; the casino portion of the US$600 million Bethworks project to open in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the second quarter of 2009; and the Four Seasons Private Apartments Macao to open by the third quarter of 2009.
'Given the current conditions in the global credit environment, we have elected to significantly slow the pace of our development activities on the Cotai Strip... as we focus our current efforts on maximising our cash flow,' Mr Weidner said in a statement.
As of Sept 30, the company had US$10.25 billion in long-term debt.
Mr Adelson said part of the company's strategy was to build casinos but also malls that it could sell off to pay off construction costs and debt.
As an example, he said its mall in Singapore could generate some US$200 million a year in cash flows with some US$4 billion in debt.
'If things get back to normal, we can sell that mall and pay for the entire Singapore property,' he said. -- AP