On a roll: Marina Bay Sands' earnings soared 68.2% in 1Q14

Unfazed by weak rolling chip volume.

According to UOB Kay Hian, Marina Bay Sands delivered 1Q14 EBITDA of US$435.2.5m, (+68.2% qoq, +9.6% yoy).

Here's more:

In spite of lacklustre rolling chip volume (RCV) of S$16,177m (-5.7% qoq, -28.9% yoy), EBITDA was lifted by a significant improvement in win rate at 3.41% (4Q13: 1.92%; 1Q13: 2.51%). As a result, EBITDA margin improvedmarkedly to 52.1%, its highest in the past eight quarters.

Slight improvement in mass-market. Positively, MBS’ 1Q14 non-RCV reversed its qoq declining trend in the past four quarters, improving marginally to S$1.4b (+1.9% qoq, -3.1% yoy), partly due to seasonal factor. Unlike the volatile VIP win rate, non-RCV hold rate remained resilient at 23.4%. Looking ahead, we continue to expect flattish industry mass-market GGR growth trends due to: a) market saturation and b) constraints in hotel room supply (99% occupancy).