[ET Net News Agency, 23 April 2020] Jefferies Research said Sands China's (01928) 1Q
result is likely to be a non-event given management's positive comments noting an expected
recovery from summer and a strong rebound from "late fall" as visa and travel restrictions
could be partly relaxed from mid-May onwards.
In the near-term, the research house expects the company to remain loss-making (already
losses in February and March) with US$3.5 mn/day cost run-rate and Jefferies waits for
restrictions to ease.
Jefferies estimated the stages of recovery as follows: (1) Macau arrival quarantine
measures ease; (2) China relaxes IVS (individual visit scheme) and group tour
restrictions, which would be likely to occur by the province rather than by the country as
a whole; and (3) social distancing relaxed.
It maintained its "buy" rating on Sands, with a target price of HK$32. (KL)