Macau, China, Oct. 23, 2025 (Lusa) - Macau casino operator Sands China on Thursday announced profits of US$272 million (€234.5 million) in the third quarter, up 1.5% on the same period in 2024.

The results end six months of year-on-year declines, with Sands China's profits falling 13% and 32% in the first and second quarters, respectively.

This comes after the operator ended 2024 with profits of US$1.05 billion (€905.7 million), an increase of 50.9%.

The rise in profits was due to revenues from the company's five casinos in Macau, which rose 7.5% between July and September to US$1.9 billion (€1.64 billion).

Macau is the world's gambling capital and the only place in China where casino gambling is legal.

With revenues on the rise, Sands China posted operating profits of US$601 million (€518.3 million) in the third quarter of 2025, up 2.7% year-on-year.

Robert Goldstein, president of Sands China's parent company, Las Vegas Sands (LVS), recalled that the operator made a "decade-long commitment to make investments that enhance the appeal of Macau's business and leisure tourism and support its development as a world-class tourism centre".

"We remain excited about our opportunities to achieve industry-leading growth in both Macau and Singapore in the coming years," Goldstein noted, quoted in a statement from Sands China.

The company is one of six casino concessionaires operating in the territory, whose 10-year concession agreement came into effect on 1 January 2023.

At the time, the six operators committed to investing "more than 100 billion patacas’ (€10.8 billion) in non-gambling developments. Sands announced "an iconic winter garden" covering 50,000 square metres.

Sands China made total investments of US$229 million (€197.5 million) between July and September, including US$99 million (€85.4 million) in Macau.

In a conference call with investors, the CEO of Las Vegas Sands said that the two pre-season games of the North American basketball league (NBA) held in Macau were "a great success".

"[We are] very happy with the results. I think the marketing value created for us was also very strong," added Patrick Dumont, quoted by the press.

Patrick Dumont also owns the Dallas Mavericks, another NBA team.

The two games, on 10 and 12 October, brought the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns teams to Macau and filled the Venetian Arena, owned by Sands China, which has a capacity of 14,000 people.

These were the first NBA games in China after a six-year hiatus.

VQ/AYLS // AYLS

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