Sands China delays Macau expansion for lack of labor

Sands China (1928.HK) announced that it would delay the opening of its expanded Cotai Strip resort in Macau to the fourth quarter of 2011 because it cannot find sufficient construction workers, the Wall Street Journal reported. Two weeks ago the company said that it had about 1,300 workers on-site, far less than the 10-11,000 usually required at the peak of construction. Delays for the US$4 billion expansion project highlight the difficulty of working around Macau’s strict foreign labor restrictions on businesses. Sands China, a subsidiary of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation (LVS.NYSE), reported a 200% year-on-year net profit increase in the first half due to its continued mass-market expansion strategy. Its board approved a further US$100 million yesterday for the Macau expansion.