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Century Casinos Reports Record Revenues for Q3 2000

26 October 2000

CRIPPLE CREEK, Colorado – (Press Release) -- Oct. 26, 2000 -- Century Casinos, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNTY) today reported record net operating revenues of $7,190,000 -- an increase of 7% over the previous record of $6,705,000 reported during the same period in 1999 and the eighth consecutive quarter of net operating revenue growth.

Net income for the quarter was $830,000 or $0.06 per share -- increasing slightly over earnings (excluding the after-tax effect of non-recurring items) of $808,000 or $0.06 per share reported during the same period in 1999. Net income for the third quarter of 1999, which included a non-recurring $1 million payment from the 1995 sale of the Company's interest in an Indiana gaming development project, was $1,456,000 or $0.10 per share. The Company has recorded seven consecutive (and ten of the last eleven) profitable quarters to date.

``We are very pleased with our continued revenue growth and our financial performance so far this year, especially considering that we have had to absorb pre-opening expenses associated with our Caledon Casino, Hotel & Spa which opened very successfully 2 weeks ago,'' said Erwin Haitzmann, Chairman and CEO of Century Casinos, Inc.

``Again, nearly all of our financial success so far can be attributed to our core operation in Colorado which makes us very enthusiastic about the potential financial growth that our new, recently opened projects can bring to Century. Furthermore, we have continued our commitment to the share repurchase program, buying back an additional 117,500 shares during the third quarter and another 52,000 in October.''

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the period increased slightly to $2,664,000 over EBITDA (before non-recurring items) of $2,612,000 reported in 1999. EBITDA for the third quarter of 1999 (which includes the non-recurring $1 million Indiana payment) was $3,652,000.

The Company also reported income from operations of $1,554,000 as compared to the $1,770,000 reported during the same period in 1999 -- a decrease of 14%. The Company attributes much of this decrease to pre-opening expenses associated with opening the new Caledon property.

Casino gross margin for the quarter was 61% as compared to 65% reported last year. Again, the Company attributes the decrease to pre-opening expenses associated with the casino in Caledon.

As a percentage of net operating revenue, general and administrative expense remained unchanged at 24%.

Depreciation for the quarter increased to $516,000 from $481,000 last year, while amortization of goodwill remained unchanged at $335,000 for both periods. The increase in depreciation expense is primarily attributable to equipment purchases for Casino Millennium and ongoing improvements to Womacks Casino.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2000 the Company reported net income of $2,205,000, or $0.15 per share compared with $1,917,000 or $0.13 per share reported for the same period in 1999 -- an increase of 15%. EBITDA for the period increased 11% to $7,462,000 from the $6,713,000 reported in 1999. Both the net income and EBITDA figures for both nine-month periods include non-recurring final payments received from the 1995 sale of the Company's interest in an Indiana gaming development project.

Excluding these non-recurring items, one-time operational charges, and their tax effects, net income for the period increased by 21% to $1,533,000 or $0.11 per share as compared to $1,269,000 or $0.09 per share reported in the same 1999 period; and EBITDA was $6,384,000 -- a 12% increase over the $5,702,000 achieved last year.

Net operating revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2000 increased 10% to $19,236,000 from $17,450,000 in 1999, producing income from operations of $3,209,000, decreasing slightly from the $3,235,000 reported last year.

The company attributes most of this decrease to one-time operational charges experienced during the first quarter of 2000 and to pre-opening expenses associated with the Caledon property.

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