Las Vegas Sands Bullish on China

When you're on the ground and see what is happening, it's very, very hard to be pessimistic, Mr. Leven said.Las Vegas Sands is one of three U.S.-based casino companies— including MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts Ltd.—with heavy investments in Macau, which in recent years has remained a major source of growth for the companies as the U.S. casino industry soured.

All three companies have issued stock in Hong Kong based on their Macau assets.Las Vegas Sands, which was founded in Las Vegas and owns two large casinos there, now sees the vast majority of its revenues from casinos in Singapore and China. It is also pouring billions of dollars into the development of new casinos in Macau.

Investors last week grew concerned about reports that China's economy may slow and reports about difficulty that some of the middle-men in Macau who cater to high-rolling gamblers were having accessing credit to extend to gamblers.

But Mr. Leven, speaking at a conference of gambling industry attorneys and regulators in Las Vegas Saturday, said such concerns appear unwarranted.We are continuing to go forward with our investment in Asia and we are continuing to look for additional opportunities in Asia, he said. We haven't seen any problems there and we continue to be very very very bullish on the Chinese situation.Mr. Leven said that in the U.S. the company has focused on expanding in Florida, where he said Las Vegas Sands Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson recently spent time to push the company's plans there. Mr. Leven said he expects Florida's state legislature to pass laws allowing the types of large-scale casino and convention-oriented resorts the company is known for building.

It looks favorable, Mr. Leven said.Las Vegas Sands in the past had also expressed interest in building a casino in Massachusetts, where the state legislature is currently debating legislation to allow casino gambling.But the company is likely not interested now because it appears the legislation likely to pass would not fit the model of large-scale resort-building, Mr. Leven said.

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