Increased visitation at local and regional properties, helped by the receding pandemic, boosted third-quarter results for Century Casinos.
Earnings per share and revenue both topped Wall Street forecasts and the company announced plans for projects at two Missouri properties: one open-water riverboat casino will move to land and get a new hotel; one land-based casino will also get a new hotel.
In a statement Friday, Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Century Casinos, which owns three hotel-casinos and a racetrack in Canada, five in the United States, one in England, and through a subsidiary, a two-thirds stake in Casinos Poland, said its net income was $11. 2 million, or 36 cents per diluted share, for the three months ended
Sept. 30, up from net income of $3.7 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier.
The latest earnings result topped the 27-cents-per-share average forecast of analysts surveyed by Seeking Alpha.
Century Casinos shares surged on the news, climbing $2.04, or 14.9% to close at $15.75 in regular trading Friday on the Nasdaq. After hours, the shares gained another 9 cents, or 0.57%, to settle at $15.84. The share price has more than doubled since January.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a cash-flow measure that excludes one-time costs, rose 49% to $33.1 million from $22.2 million.
Revenue rose 22% to $116.6 million from $95.7 million and topped the $106.7 million average forecast of Seeking Alpha-polled analysts.
“The quarter showed continued strength and momentum across all our local and regional properties and businesses. We saw impressive growth with increased visitation, more time on device, and higher spend per visit across our database and markets,” co-CEO Peter Hoetzinger said in a conference call with analysts and journalists. “We continued to benefit from strong regional demand and the preference for close-to-home entertainment.”
Century Casinos said it will move Carousel Casino in Caruthersville, Missouri, the state’s last remaining riverboat on open water, to a land-based casino with 20% more gaming positions and an attached 75-rooms hotel. That project will open in early 2024. The company will also build a nine-story 75-room hotel that will attach to Century Casino Cape Girardeau. That project will open in late 2023. Combined costs for the projects are estimated at $68.3 million.
Meanwhile, Century Casinos will also build housing for up to 30 of its “current and future” workers in Cripple Creek, Colorado, to be ready by September. No costs were disclosed.
Hoetzinger said Century is considering acquisition opportunities in the United State to further broaden its footprint, but didn’t name any locales.
Follow Matthew Crowley on Twitter @copyjockey.
