Louisiana’s casino market grew more than 5 percent in June as increases in Lake Charles and New Orleans helped off-set a significant dip in Baton Rouge.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board said Thursday that statewide casino revenue for the month was $224.5 million. For the first six months of 2018, revenue is up less than 0.5 percent to $1.307 billion.
The Lake Charles market in western Louisiana, which includes Golden Nugget and Pinnacle Entertainment’s L’Auberge, grew 11.3 percent to $83.6 million in revenue for month, while New Orleans, home to Harrah’s New Orleans, was up 6.7 percent.
The results helped off-set a 15.6 percent decline in Baton Rouge. Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Carl Santarelli told investors that he blamed the dip in the state’s capitol city on the implementation of a recent smoking ban inside casinos.
Pinnacle Entertainment, with four properties, is the state’s largest casino operator in terms of revenue. The company’s casinos generated gaming revenue of $58.7 million during June, a 4 percent year-over-year increase.
While L’Auberge Lake Charles had the single-highest revenue month in the state – $30.5 million, a 13.6 percent increase over June 2017 – L’Auberge Baton Rouge saw gaming numbers decline 13.2 percent.
Pinnacle is being acquired by Penn National Gaming in a $2.8 billion acquisition. On Thursday, gaming regulators in Louisiana and Ohio, approved the buyout. The transaction has now been approved by gaming regulators in eight states and by shareholders of both companies.
“Our progress with the regulatory approval process remains on track, and we continue to expect the transaction to be completed in the second half of this year,” Penn National CEO Tim Wilmott said in a statement.
Louisiana’s results do not include revenue from video slot machines that are operated in bars, taverns and truck stops throughout the state.
Jefferies gaming analyst David Katz said June’s Louisiana results were “incrementally positive” and “in line with our expectations for a recovery after a slow start to the quarter.”
Katz said the casino company consolidation environment “and strong operating backdrop will continue to provide upside for regional stocks.”
Penn is also in the process of acquiring Margaritaville in Bossier City, which would give the company five casinos in Louisiana.
As for other Louisiana casino operators, Boyd Gaming Corp.’s five casinos grew revenue 7.7 percent to $44.3 million, Eldorado Resorts’ two properties saw revenue decline 6.8 percent to $18.5 million and Caesars Entertainment’s three casinos generated $45.8 million during the month, a 10 percent increase.
“We note that the June calendar was favorable with 10 weekend days in 2018 versus nine in 2017,” Santarelli wrote in a research report. He added that gaming revenue grew 5.1 percent during the same month last year.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
