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The owner of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas posted a smaller third-quarter loss Thursday as business picked up for the 2,427-room property.
American Casino & Entertainment Properties LLC said it lost $4.2 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30 vs. a loss of $8.9 million in the year-ago quarter.
The Las Vegas company, with four properties in Southern Nevada, said net revenue increased from $83.6 million to $86.7 million.
Net revenue at the Stratosphere increased 9.6 percent to $41.1 million thanks to a 10.7 percent increase in casino revenue and a 27.9 percent increase in hotel revenue.
The company capitalized on growth in the Las Vegas visitor count and some 909 remodeled Stratosphere rooms fetched rates $14 higher than standard rooms, American Casino said.
The Stratosphere’s average daily room rate improved from $41.20 to $50.31 while occupancy improved from 86 percent to 91.2 percent, the company said.
The strong performance by the Stratosphere based on the higher rates for the remodeled rooms helped lift EBITDA at American Casino 17.3 percent to $16.5 million — $1.5 million higher than estimated, analysts at Deutsche Bank said Thursday.
EBITDA is a profitability measure meaning earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
At the 1,907-room Aquarius in Laughlin, where business has been disrupted by construction on the main road through town (Casino Drive), net revenue increased 0.4 percent, the first year-over-year increase this year.
At the company’s two Arizona Charlie’s locals hotel-casinos in Las Vegas, the 258-room Decatur Boulevard property and the 303-room Boulder Highway property, net revenue fell 2.6 percent.
“The Las Vegas local market is showing signs of economic improvement in the areas of tourism and taxable sales, but continues to be impacted by high unemployment and declining home values,” American Casino said in Thursday’s financial report.