Despite a generally flat set of revenue numbers in the year’s second quarter, Caesars officials on a quarterly earnings call expressed a positive outlook for the months ahead — partly because of a boost they expect to get from Caesars Virginia in Danville opening before the end of the year.
In a press release ahead of the call, Tom Reeg, chief executive officer of Caesars Entertainment, Inc., highlighted the company’s generation of $1 billion of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). He went on to say,
“Regional segment results reflect competition in new markets partially offset by our temporary facility in Danville, Virginia, and our property in Columbus, Nebraska. We remain optimistic for the balance of 2024 driven by strong operating trends in our Las Vegas and Caesars Digital segments and the expected openings of the permanent facility in Danville coupled with our $430 million capital investment in our newly rebranded Caesars New Orleans property.”
The new permanent Virginia casino will open around the same time that Bristol opens its own permanent Hard Rock Casino.
Quarterly numbers mostly static compared to Q2 2023
The press release reported the following core numbers:
- Net revenues of $2.8 billion versus $2.9 billion for the comparable prior-year period, under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
- A GAAP net loss of $122 million compared to $920 million net income for the second quarter of 2023, primarily driven by a release of $940 million of valuation allowance against deferred tax assets associated with real estate investment trust leases in 2023.
- Same-store adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion, the same as in the prior-year period.
- Caesars Digital adjusted EBITDA of $40 million, versus $11 million in second quarter 2023.
Caesars officials on the call said that, despite a “terrible” April that affected the quarter and construction disruption at the company’s casino complex project in New Orleans, there’s cause for optimism.
Danville casino’s opening expected to move the needle
The permanent casino in Danville, which Reeg said Tuesday should be open by December, is expected to build on the revenue generated by a temporary casino operating under the Caesars banner in that city.
Reeg said, “As you get to the fourth quarter and Virginia opens, I’d expect we’re growing in that segment. Again, recall that the win per position in the temporary (casino) in Virginia is the highest in the entire enterprise and will be about doubling gaming capacity when we move to the permanent (location), so that should be a strong driver.”
In June, the Caesars temporary casino generated over $19 million in gaming revenue, with 826 slot machines contributing $14 million and 36 table games adding another $5.2 million.
The new casino will feature 1,300 slot machines, 85 live table games, 24 electronic table games, a World Series of Poker card room, and a Caesars Virginia Sportsbook. Based on June’s numbers, the additional slot machines and table games alone could generate at least $15 million in additional revenue.
