The boss of American casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment Incorporated has reportedly declared that the firm would consider acquiring a property in the?Las Vegas area if the right deal came along but at present is happy with its geographically diverse portfolio.
According to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, Anthony Sanfillipo, Chief Executive Officer for Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment Incorporated, made the revelation during a Thursday conference call with investors concerning the company’s third-quarter financial results.
Pinnacle Entertainment Incorporated currently operates 16 casinos in ten states including the Horseshu Hotel And Casino and Cactus Pete’s Resort Casino in the small northern Nevada border town of Jackpot and has a funnel arrangement with MGM Resorts International for those wanting a taste of the action in Las Vegas. Sanfillipo explained that the firm is growing its cross-property promotions strategy while most of its customers enjoy “being big fish in small ponds”.
As an example, Sanfillipo declared that a number of customers at the Ameristar Casino Resort And Spa in Black Hawk, Colorado, took promotional trips to his firm’s Boomtown Casino New Orleans property last weekend in order to follow the Denver Broncos NFL franchise as it took on the New Orleans Saints.
For the three months to the end of September, Pinnacle Entertainment Incorporated reported a 2.9% increase year-on-year in net revenues to $595.1 million, which included a contribution of $15.6 million from the newly-acquired gaming operations at The Meadows Racetrack And Casino in western Pennsylvania.
The firm saw its third-quarter consolidated adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and restructuring or rent costs improve by 3.7% year-on-year to $155.4 million although it reported a net loss from continuing operations of $532,000 versus income of $13.4 million for the same period in 2015. Pinnacle Entertainment Incorporated explained that this deficit was a result, in part, of the two-week closure of its L’Auberge Casino And Hotel Baton Rouge in August due to heavy rain and flooding while its Ameristar Casino Resort And Spa St Charles in Missouri had moreover experienced reduced traffic as a consequence of construction at a nearby freeway interchange.
“Those three days of rain in August virtually stopped the operation,” said Sanfilippo. “At our company, we watch out for our team members, our guests and our stakeholders.”
For the third quarter, Pinnacle Entertainment Incorporated declared a net attributable loss of $486,000, which compared with earnings of $13.7 million for the same quarter a year ago.
“We see a great future with [The Meadows Racetrack And Casino] and for our company,” said Sanfilippo. “It’s started off well.”