“Poland spoiled the party a bit,” said Century Casinos President Peter Hoetzinger of the downside of what was otherwise “a strong solid quarter” for the company.
Hoetzinger’s remarks came as part of Century’s second-quarter earnings call on Friday. He was joined by co-CEO Erwin Haitzmann and the company’s new vice president of United States operations, Lyle Randolph.
Century saw record revenues and cash flow, Hoetzinger reported, despite the absence of a Warsaw casino (which closed in June 2025) and low table-game hold in Poland. North America “had a great quarter and represents 90 percent of our total results.” Hoetzinger singled out a “tremendous performance” at the Sparks Nugget, along with strong results in Missouri and Colorado.
“We benefited from growth across all retail customers,” Hoetzinger continued, “despite higher gas prices.” Customers, he said, were staying and playing closer to home and two years of capex investment were paying off for Century.
Randolph, in his Century debut, took up the thread. “A clear pattern continues to emerge,” he related. “We’re seeing the operational work of the past several years beginning to pay off.”
Cash flow, he said, was accelerating faster than revenue, up 16 percent in the first half of 2026, whereas revenue grew five percent. “That consistency and growth are the real story.”
Among other positive metrics were six percent more coin-in at the slot machines and 36 percent greater hotel-room revenue. Randolph said room nights were at a three-year high, including 300 percent more corporate sales. The number of guests generating $400 in business per night grew 20 percent.
Century’s two Missouri casinos, Randolph said, had experienced seven straight quarters of cash-flow growth and their revenues were up eight percent. Century Caruthersville was seeing 15 percent more customers from beyond a 50-mile radius and had the highest revenue growth of all 13 Missouri gambling venues.
Rocky Gap Resort in Maryland had a “resilient quarter, despite a challenging customer environment,” the new vice president declared. Revenues were down one percent, but “disciplined expense management offset those pressures.”
West Virginia’s Mountaineer racino had the highest revenue of any Century property in the quarter, Randolph reported, despite the state having “more gaming options than ever before.” Sports betting, igaming, and horse racing (revenue from which was up 40 percent) were said to be offsetting softness in other departments. High-value and young customers were spending more, Randolph said, as the property saw its 75th year of racing events.
Century’s pair of casinos in Colorado had “encouraging momentum,” according to Randolph, with 11.5 percent more revenue and 32 percent higher cash flow. “We remain optimistic about both markets,” he said of Cripple Creek and Century City. Newish Cripple Creek rival Chamonix was seen as more of an opportunity than a threat. Century was, Randolph opined, well-positioned to compete against it for guests “in a larger and more vibrant market.”
All four of Century’s Alberta casinos were up, said Chairman Erwin Haitzmann, with one surpassing its own records. He called the Canadian performance “solid,” manifesting 2.2 percent revenue growth.
There was, Haitzmann said, growing customer awareness of Century’s new Canadian sports bars, a concept it planned to use to leverage the new igaming and online-sports-betting markets. Of the latter, Century is “monitoring its long-term impact.”
Asked if he’d seen any cannibalization in Alberta from igaming, Haitzmann replied, “No, we didn’t. Maybe it’s not happening at all. Maybe it’s a natural fertilization instead.”
Regarding possible online opportunities for Century in Alberta, Haitzmann said, “I wouldn’t see anything.” To that Hoetzinger added, “That’s an opportunity for our retail sportsbook, not online.”
Hoetzinger also floated the idea of selling the Alberta properties, either as a bundle or as a pair of casinos and racinos each. He said there would be a potential disclosure along those lines by the end of 2026.
As for Poland, it was “a period of significant transition” for Century there. The company’s new Wroclaw casino had anticipated start-up costs, but “management believes the flagship location represents a significant long-term opportunity,” per Haitzmann. “The challenging outlook for the Polish business is increasingly stable.” Century’s long-running attempts to sell its Polish casinos went unmentioned on the call.
“This is a year of harvesting for us,” Hoetzinger resumed. “We’re actually feeling really good about the rest of the year,” Poland included. He said Century’s debt load would be down to six times cash flow by year’s end, with no debt maturities in sight for three years.
