MGM Posts 2nd Quarter Loss, but Revenue Surges 29 Percent
(Associated Press) - MGM Resorts International on Tuesday posted a second-quarter loss double what Wall Street was expecting, but revenue surged 29 percent on gambling and hotel room gains.
Shares rose 12 cents to $9.38 as the market opened.
The Las Vegas company, which runs the MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and other properties, lost $145.5 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with a year-ago profit of $3.44 billion, or $6.22 per share.
Last year's second quarter included a $6.30 per share gain on consolidation of MGM China. That unit runs a casino in Macau, the only spot in China where gambling is legal. It went public in Hong Kong last June.
Revenue rose to $2.32 billion, from $1.81 billion last year.
Analysts, on average, forecast a loss of 15 cents per share, on revenue of $2.35 billion, according to FactSet.
Casino revenue in the domestic resorts MGM owns fell 1 percent. Slots revenue was flat, while revenue from hotel rooms rose 3 percent on higher rates.
MGM China revenue rose 6 percent, driven by higher traffic at its main floor table games and slots.
MGM still has much of its business in Sin City, unlike its major counterparts Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts International.
Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates The Venetian and The Palazzo in Las Vegas, said last month that its second-quarter profit tumbled by 35 percent, mostly due to lower table winnings in Asia and at home. Wynn Resorts Ltd. said its second-quarter earnings rose from the same quarter last year, which was weighed down by a hefty charge. But revenue fell at its operations in both Las Vegas and Macau.
