Century Casinos is “pleased” with the record revenue it has achieved during the second quarter of 2023 thanks to the acquisition of Nugget Casino Resort.
The operator noted that it expects a “positive” outlook for the Sparks, Nevada location for the second half of the year and during 2024 following record bookings at its hotel.
Movements for Century Casinos
Publishing its Q2 results, Century Casinos declared a net operating revenue of $136.8m, a record for the operator and up 23 per cent in comparison to the previous year (Q2 2022: $111.1m). Revenue also improved upon Q1’s $108.5m.
Earnings from operations dropped by 10 per cent year-over-year to $18.6m (2022: $20.8m), resulting in a net loss of $2m, down 122 per cent YoY from net earnings of $8.9m last year.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter ended at $29.3m, down two per cent in comparison to the previous year (2022: $29.8m).
During the measuring period, Century Casinos made several acquisitions and sales which had an impact on financial performance.
In April, the operator added Nugget Casino Resort to its portfolio via the acquisition of Nugget Sparks for $104.7m and 50 per cent of Smooth Bourbon for $95m. Nugget owns and operates Nugget Casino Resort while Smooth Bourbon owns the real property and leases it to Nugget.
The following month, Century Casino entered into definitive agreements for subsidiaries of VICI PropCo Buyer to acquire the Century Canadian Portfolio for an aggregate purchase price of CAD $221.7m in cash. It is expected to close in the second half of 2023.
The Canadian Portfolio includes the real estate assets of Century Casino & Hotel Edmonton, Century Casino St Albert and Century Mile Racetrack and Casino in Edmonton, Alberta, and Century Downs Racetrack and Casino in Calgary, Alberta.
“We are pleased with the results of this quarter, generating record revenue due to the addition of the Nugget Casino Resort, partially offset by construction disruption at our Missouri properties,” stated Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Century Casinos.
“We believe the outlook for the Nugget is positive with record group bookings at the hotel for the second half of this year and continuing into 2024.”
US operations growth
Per segment, the US was the only region to see improvements during Q2 in both revenue and adjusted EBITDA. Canadian operations saw declines in both revenue and adjusted EBITDA, while Poland had an uptick in revenue but a drop in adjusted EBITDA.
For the US – Central City and Cripple Creek in Colorado, Mountaineer in West Virginia, Cape Girardeau and Caruthersville in Missouri, Nugget Casino Resort in Nevada – revenue rose by 34 per cent to $94.4m (2022: $70.3m) while adjusted EBITDA improved by 15 per cent to $25.8m (2022: $22.4m).
For Canada – Edmonton, St. Albert and Century Mile in Edmonton and Century Downs in Calgary – revenue dropped slightly to $18.8m (2022: $19m), while adjusted EBITDA fell by eight per cent to $5.1m (2022: $5.6m).
Casino Poland revenue rose by 8 per cent to $23.5m (2022: $21.7m), but adjusted EBITDA declined significantly by 31 per cent to $1.9m (2022: $2.7m). Corporate and other revenue fell by 94 per cent to $4,000 (2022: $65,000), while its adjusted EBITDA decreased by 295 per cent to negative $3.5m (2022: negative $896,000).
Following the end of the quarter, Century Casino also completed the acquisition of Rocky Gap Casino for $61.2m.
Haitzmann and Hoetzinger concluded: “We are in a transitional stage taking over two properties in gaming jurisdictions new to us, and we incurred additional expenses related to the acquisitions while facing inflationary cost pressures from payroll wages and benefits, insurance and utilities.
“We look forward to continuing growth from the Nugget and contribution to our results from Rocky Gap, our newest acquisition in Maryland.”
