U.S. gaming financial review: Sept. 24, 2006
We begin our look back at the week that was in U.S. gaming financials with news of Harrah’s Entertainment official debut of its new 450-room, 26-story, $170 million luxury hotel in New Orleans on Thursday. The first project of its kind to open since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the hotel compliments the existing 125,000 square-foot Harrah’s Casino, featuring 2,100 slots and more than 90 table games. More than 2,500 guest attended the opening, with the facility lying mere paces away from the casino, New Orleans’ historic French Quarter and other attractions along the Mississippi River. Works of notable local artists and a new jazz club housed within a historic building were similarly incorporated into the new project. Harrah’s also announced this week that they will host a conference call this coming Wednesday to discuss their 2006 third-quarter results. At week’s end, Harrah’s Entertainment closed down $1.26 per share at $66.50.
Elsewhere, Harrah’s St. Louis rival Ameristar Casinos hosted its first night of professional boxing at their new 55,000 square-foot conference center in the city. The move is seen as a counterpunch by Ameristar in answer to Harrah’s March 2006 upgrades and additions to its St. Louis casino which has seen them overtake the number one spot in the area for gaming revenue – a place formerly enjoyed by Ameristar, who are currently in the midst of a $240 million upgrade of its own to the St. Charles facility. The Ameristar conference center plans to host other boxing events every six weeks or so, with the company also bracing for the impact of two new Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. casinos in the area scheduled to open over the next two years. Ameristar closed the week on the NASDAQ selling at $23 per share. Pinnacle, meanwhile, traded at $29.14 per share, a drop of 39-cents.
In other news, Las Vegas Sands will reportedly open their new Singapore facility earlier than expected amid fears that the Macau casino/resort market may not live up to initial expectations. Analyst Lawrence A. Klatzkin, while reducing overall revenue expectations for the market to $12.6 million from initial predictions of $13.8 million by 2008, said company management has informed him that it will open its $3.6 million Singapore casino/resorts by July 2009, up from past projections of January 2010. Las Vegas Sands opened its Sands Macao facility with expanded floor space on Aug. 24, with rival Wynn Resorts also recently opening their new casino in the area. Las Vegas Sands closed down at Friday close at $65.27, a drop of $1.14 per share, with Wynn Resorts coming in down as well to $67.02, a drop of $1.47.
- Rex Harris