ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Las Vegas Sands Corp. said its net income fell 1 percent as it took less money from gamblers and paid to start up a new casino in Macau.

The company said on Thursday that it earned $349.8 million, or 42 cents per share, for the third quarter. During the same period last year it earned $353.6 million, or 44 cents per share.

It said its adjusted profit would have been 46 cents per share. But that was still well below the 60 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue rose 12.5 percent to $2.71 billion, when analysts expected $2.89 billion.

In Macau, the Chinese gambling enclave where Sands earns most of it money, net income rose 17 percent to $326.7 million.

Profit slipped in the quarter in part because the company spent more on the Sands Cotai Central in Macau, which is the biggest resort-casino project it has ever done.

The first phase of the project opened in April. A second phase opened Sept. 20, adding about 1,800 hotel rooms and more retail space.

Casino opening expenses, mostly for Macau, more than doubled to $39.9 million.

Macau is the world’s biggest gambling destination, and the Sands Cotai is the company’s fourth hotel casino there. The four properties will soon be connected, and “will provde an outstanding platform for growth” in Macau in the years ahead, said Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Other Las Vegas gambling companies have operations there, too, including MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Operating income from the company’s Las Vegas hotels, the Venetian and the Palazzo, rose 14 percent to $74 million. Its Singapore property’s operating income fell 47 percent to $166.5 million, as table games were less lucrative.

Las Vegas Sands shares had risen 2 cents to close at $46.46 before the announcement. They rose another 45 cents to $46.91 in aftermarket trading.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.