HONG KONG — Sands China, which operates three large casinos in Macau, yesterday reported a 22 per cent rise in net profit last year as visitors gambled more and through cost-cutting measures. Sands China, Macau’s second-largest casino operator by revenue after SJM, said its net profit for the year ended Dec 31 was US$213.8 million ($300.5 million), up from US$175.7 million in 2008. It recorded an 8.1 per cent rise in revenue to US$3.3 billion from US$3.05 billion. The Las Vegas Sands unit, which in 2008 halted work on a major expansion in Macau at the height of the global financial crisis, also said it expected construction to return to full swing this month, with completion targeted for July 2011.  The resumption of the construction in Macau’s Cotai area comes after gaming revenue in the Chinese territory surged nearly 70 per cent from a year earlier in January and February,adding to signs that the world’s biggest gambling market is back on its feet following the global downturn, the swine flu outbreak and the imposition of visa restrictions on mainland travellers to the Special Administrative Region.  Macau’s gaming revenue rose by 9.7 per cent for the whole of 2009 despite a 12.4-per-cent fall in the first half of the year. Dow Jones