Sands gives hard rock assurance,casino can go on

A SHADOW may have been cast over the prospects of the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) but Las Vegas Sands (LVS) chairman Sheldon Adelson still expects to open on time, and with possibly even more gaming(1000)tables than its mega casino at the Venetian Macao.
Mr Adelson personally reaffirm his commitment to the success of Marina Bay Sands.
In response to reports that LVS could be on the brink of bankruptcy, Mr Adelson, who was till recently labelled one of the world's richest men with an estimated net worth of US$11 billion blinked not.Mr Sheldon met with Singapore government officials, covering a range of subjects, such as the pace of construction and marketing efforts with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). But he did not comment on reports that MBS was seeking financial assistance from the Singapore government.
STB assistant chief executive (leisure) and director (integrated resorts) Margaret Teo added: 'We remain in dialogue with Marina Bay Sands and will continue to work closely'
The government appears to have made some concessions to MBS the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore (CRA) by accepting the layout for the casino floor plan which will in essence allow for more gaming tables up to a thousand.
CRA head of communications Cheryl Foo confirmed that the proposed number of tables, which was submitted in August, had been accepted and 'comply with our requirements'.
The casino floor plan if approved 1,000 gaming tables, it will more than rival the Venetian Macao casino, dubbed the world's largest casino with 750 gaming tables,which is turning soft by China,s regulating the arrival to three months only..

Jonathan Galaviz, a partner at Globalysis, a Nevada-based travel and leisure sector strategy consultancy, notes that the outbound visa restrictions placed on mainland Chinese tourists to Macau, 'continues to put unnatural pressure on the Asia- based industry'.
He added: 'The integrated resort (IR) site at Marina Bay has always been seen by the industry as a strong real estate position for the building of a multi-billion-dollar mixed-use tourism facility.'
It has a long-term debt of US$8.8 billion.
LVS has also said that its Singapore IR is expected to cost in excess of US$4.5 billion.
In Singapore, DBS, UOB and OCBC are said to have an exposure to MBS of around $2.2 billion.
A spokesman for UOB said: 'We are always mindful of concentration risks and are constantly reviewing and rebalancing our portfolio to prevent overexposure to any single project or industry.'
Interestingly, Nomura notes in a recent report that the MBS loans are collateralised on the project itself, with repayment of principal and interest to begin only when construction is completed.
In a report released yesterday, CIMB said: 'If LVS cannot cough up its share of equity, it is likely that the Singapore government will step in.' This could be through a GLC, it added.