Caesars chief: Strip tragedy will not affect Caesars overall financial results

One of the many sculptured angels is shown at Caesars Palace on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015.

Caesars Entertainment Corp., a diversified casino-entertainment provider and U.S. casino-entertainment company, reported its third-quarter earnings Wednesday.

Company: Caesars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR)

Revenue: The company experienced net revenues for the third quarter of 2017 of $1 billion, about the same figure for the same period last year.

Loss: 2017’s third-quarter net loss was $460 million. This quarter’s loss was driven, the company said, by an adjustment of $472 million attributed to the restructuring of CEOC.

Loss per share: Third-quarter loss per basic and diluted share was $3.14, compared to $4.38 for the third quarter of 2016.

Takeaways:

The mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip on Oct. 1. is affecting revenues for Caesars Entertainment, but not enough for the company to change its financial projections, executives of the company said Wednesday in a conference call to discuss third-quarter earnings with financial analysts.

In a list of points in a presentation accompanying the call, the company wrote: “Tragic incident in Las Vegas expected to impact 4Q revenues.”

However, in comments at the start of the call, Chief Executive Officer Mark Frissora said the effect of the shooting would not affect Caesars overall financial results.

“We’re committed to helping Las Vegas heal and are offering resources to those affected,” Frissora said. “Caesars employees, chefs and entertainers donated $2 million to help.”

“Regarding the Las Vegas operations, we expect any impact to be immaterial. In addition, we do not believe the incident will have effect on Las Vegas.”

In response to an analyst’ question Caesars CFO Eric Hession said the shooting will not change the company’s financial projections.

“We upped our guidance at the end of the second quarter,” Hession said. “We made a full year’s projection and at this point we’re sticking with that and giving indications we can beat it. There are definite headwinds associated with the attack. but at this point we feel like it’s prudent to stick with guidance we had.”

Hessian also spoke about the company’s future plans, albeit far more briefly than they did at an investor’s event held earlier this month.

When asked about potential deals, Hessian said the company had nothing to announce yet, but is moving quickly with its plans.

“We are very active out looking for opportunities to make sure we are disciplined and any deals fit with our strategy. In 2018 we expect to complete a number of transactions,” he said.

Hessian also said the company will be moving ahead with a conference center it has planned on the eastside of land it owns on the Strip and it will also be expanding and building on other vacant parcels it owns in Las Vegas.

Tags: News , All , Aggregate
Business

Share