Golden Entertainment has achieved its second consecutive year of total annual revenue exceeding $1bn following the end of the 2022 financial year.
CEO and Chairman Blake Sartini also noted that the company expects to close the sale of its Rocky Gap Casino Resort in the second quarter of 2023, while its fourth quarter performance is above 2019 levels, but down compared to the previous year due to costs.
Golden Entertainment Q4 solid
Publishing its Q4 results, Golden Entertainment reported a 0.8 per cent decline year-over-year in revenue to $279.7m (Q4 2021: $282m), but stands above 2019’s $242.1m. Gaming revenue fell by 3.22 per cent to $185m (2021: $191.2m).
Operating income for the company grew by 2.7 per cent YoY to $35.4m (2021: $34.5m), net income fell by 42.1 per cent to $11.1m (2021: $19.1m), and adjusted EBITDA came in at $63.7m, down by six per cent (2021: $67.8m).
Per location, Golden Entertainment’s Nevada casino resorts – The STRAT Hotel, Casino & SkyPod, Aquarius Casino Resort, Edgewater Hotel & Casino Resort and Colorado Belle Hotel & Casino Resort – were the top earners in the quarter with $104.2m (2021: $104.5m) and an adjusted EBITDA of $32.5m (2021: $36.6m).
Distributed Gaming operations in Nevada and Montana followed with $90.3m (2021: $89.9m) in revenue and an adjusted EBITDA of $10.7m (2021: $10.5m).
Nevada locals casinos – Arizona Charlie’s Boulder, Arizona Charlie’s Decatur, Gold Town Casino, Lakeside Casino & RV Park and Pahrump Nugget Hotel Casino – reported $40.1m in revenue (2021: $39.7m) and an adjusted EBITDA of $19.2m (2021: $18.8m).
Nevada Taverns – made up of 64 branded tavern locations – declared $26.9m in revenue (2021: $28.4m) and an adjusted EBITDA of $7.9m (2021: $9.8m).
Golden Entertainment’s Maryland Casino Resort – Rocky Gap Casino Resort – reported $17.9m in revenue (2021: $19.2m) and an adjusted EBITDA of $5.1m (2021: $5.9m).
The company entered into definitive agreements to sell Rocky Gap Casino Resort in Q3 2022, and it expects to close this transaction in Q2 2023 which Sartini notes will “provide meaningful liquidity that combined with our free cash flow will position us to maintain low leverage, invest in our owned properties, and accelerate capital returns to shareholders.
“Our fourth quarter demonstrates strong financial performance that remains well above 2019 levels, while higher labour and other costs impacted the comparison to last year’s fourth quarter results,” he said.
Another $1bn revenue year
For the full year, Golden Entertainment has reported $1.12bn in revenue, up 2.3 per cent YoY (2021: $1.1bn). Gaming revenue was up as well by 3.07 per cent to $428.9m (2021: $416.2m).
Operating income for 2022 stood at $147.9m, down 10.9 per cent (2021: $166m), net income fell as well by 49.1 per cent to $82.3m (2021: $161.8m), and adjusted EBITDA declined by 8.4 per cent to $267.1m (2021: $291.7m).
On a geographic basis, Nevada casino resorts led the way with $407m in revenue (2021: $389.7m) and an adjusted EBITDA of $135.1m (2021: $149.1m), followed by distributed gaming with $365.5m in revenue (2021: $357.4m) and an adjusted EBITDA of $44m (2021: $47.5m).
Nevada taverns was next with $110m in revenue (2021: $110.2m) and an adjusted EBITDA of $37.6m (2021: $39.8m), followed by Maryland Casino Resort with $78m in revenue (2021: $78.2m) and an adjusted EBITDA of $25.4m (2021: $26.7m).
Sartini stated: “For the second consecutive year, our total annual revenue exceeded $1bn and our operating discipline continues to support the significant margin improvement we have achieved leading to a 45 per cent increase in full year adjusted EBITDA compared to 2019.
“Our business trends to start this year are encouraging, and we anticipate capitalising on the strength of Las Vegas in 2023 and beyond.”
During Q4, Golden Entertainment repaid $25m of its outstanding term loan and repurchased $2m of its senior unsecured notes, bringing total debt repaid in 2022 to $116m.
