Sands China hits 1-mth high after strong Q2 earnings

HONG KONG, July 29 (Reuters) - Shares in Sands China (1928.HK), the Macau unit of Las Vegas Sands (LVS.N), rose to a one-month high on Thursday after the casino operator posted a quadrupling in second-quarter earnings that beat expectations.

Shares in Sands China rose as much as 3.8 percent, hitting an intraday high of HK$12.42, and were up 1.7 percent by 0226 GMT.

Net income for Sands China rose 328.2 percent to $133.6 million in the second quarter, compared with $31.2 million in the same period a year ago, the firm said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday.

"I thought they were reasonably strong results," said Macquarie analyst Gary Pinge. "But I think they need to do better than sustain it. If you look at the momentum in the second quarter from the first quarter, it was slowing."

"The stock is not my key pick, I prefer some of the other local players," he said, even though he added that Sands China offered good exposure to long-term growth.

Pinge has an "outperform" rating on the stock with a price target of HK$15.

Sands China's adjusted property EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) rose 79.4 percent to $300.7 million in the second quarter for its three properties in Macau, the world's largest and fastest-growing gambling market.

Macau, the only place in China where gambling is legal, is now the lynchpin of growth for U.S. gambling operators such as Wynn Resorts (WYNN.O). Gambling revenues have soared this year, most recently rising 65 percent in June from the year-ago period.

In Las Vegas, where a glut of hotel rooms has led to rate discounting, Las Vegas Sands' EBITDA fell to $66 million in the second quarter from $78 million a year earlier. [ID:nN26104346].

Last Friday, Sands China said its chief executive Steve Jacobs had left the company, the latest in a string of Sands' executives to go, but analysts said his departure should not have a big effect on the firm's operations in Macau. [ID:nTOE66M05N].

Before the results, shares in Sands China had risen 26.4 percent so far this year, underperforming rival Wynn Macau (1128.HK), which gained 40.3 percent in that period.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee, Editing by Ken Wills)