MGM Loss Narrows With Vegas Commitment
(RTTNews.com) - Casino operator MGM Resorts International MGM reported Tuesday a loss for the second quarter that narrowed from last year, as Las Vegas continued to rebound and MGM China reported record results.
Las Vegas, Nevada-based MGM Resorts reported a net loss of $92.96 million or $0.19 per share for the second quarter, narrower than $145.45 million or $0.30 per share in the prior-year quarter. Stripping out one-time items, MGM posted earnings of 4 cents per share.
On average, 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.01 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Results for the latest quarter include total impairment charges of $82 million, while the year-ago quarter included $85 million of impairment charges.
Net revenue for the quarter grew 7 percent to $2.48 billion from $2.32 billion in the same quarter last year, and topped twenty-two Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $2.43 billion.
"We continue to see broad-based Las Vegas improvement as our Strip EBITDA increased 15%, driven by a 7% increase in casino revenues and a 5% increase in hotel revenues. A strong performance at MGM China led to another quarter of record results, driven by higher volumes in both mass market and VIP," Chairman and CEO Jim Murren said in a statement.
MGM China revenues increased 18 percent to $835 million from last year.
MGM China's board announced a dividend of $113 million, payable to shareholders of record as of August 26 and to be distributed on or about September 2, 2013. MGM Resorts will receive $57 million, representing its 51 percent share of the dividend.
Net revenue from resort operations decreased 1 percent to $280 million from the year-ago quarter, with Aria's table games hold percentage dropping 320 basis points to 20.8 percent from last year. Aria's occupancy percentage was 92 percent and its ADR was $212, resulting in a 4 percent increase in REVPAR of $194.
Consolidated operating income increased 32 percent to $232 million from $175 million in the prior-year quarter.
MGM closed Monday's regular trading session at $16.55, up $0.16 on a volume of 9.44 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $9.15 to $16.99.
