INTERVIEW-UPDATE 1-Las Vegas Sands eyes $3-$4 bln fund raising

* Considering 5-6 options to raise funds, including HK IPO

* Vegas ops exceeded internal projections in May, June

* Says planned sale of Macau retails ops on hold

* Singapore casino slightly delayed, to open in Jan or Feb

(Adds details, background)

By Kevin Lim and Lincoln Feast

SINGAPORE, July 8 (Reuters) - Las Vegas Sands (LVS.N), the world's largest casino firm, wants to raise $3-$4 billion and is considering several options including an IPO of its Macau assets in Hong Kong, Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson said on Wednesday.

"We are looking at a Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing, among 5 or 6 options," Adelson told Reuters Insider TV in an interview in Singapore, adding that the firm hopes to get a total of $3-4 billion through various fund raising initiatives.

Sands may also raise cash by selling stakes to private equity firms or getting construction companies involved in its projects to assemble their own financing, he added. He denied reports that the firm was considering a bond issue in the United States.

The global casino industry has been hit by a drop in leisure spending and Sands has cut staff in the United States and postponed construction projects in Macau to conserve cash. Analysts estimate the firm needs to raise about $1.5 to $2 billion to complete its developments in Macau.

Reuters reported in May that Sands had hired Goldman Sachs to look at a potential Hong Kong listing for its Macau operations and the firm planned to cut around 4,000 jobs or about 20 percent of its workforce in the Chinese territory. [nHKG32201]

Adelson, however, said the global economy appears to have bottomed and that the firm's Las Vegas casinos had exceeded budget projections for May and June. The Macau properties have also performed better than the industry average in terms of visitations and revenues.

"We are at the trough of the recession... From this point on, I think we are going to see an improvement," he said.

Adelson said Sands has put on hold plans to sell the retail component of its Venetian casino in Macau because of the weak financial markets, and it hoped to resume construction in Macau at the end of 2009.

Sands owns and operates the Venetian and Palazzo casinos and Sands Expo in Las Vegas as well as the Sands Casino Resort Bethelem in eastern Pennsylvania.