Friday, April 3, 1998 | 8:26 a.m.
The casino hotel, which opened its dramatically themed Wild, Wild West casino in July, nearly doubled the profit margin of its nearest competitor, the state Casino Control Commission said.
Harrah's Casino Hotel registered a $26 million profit for the year, followed by Showboat Casino Hotel at $11.1 million, the commission said.
"The Wild, Wild West is a new attraction and an attraction that stands out in the product mix in Atlantic City," said Jason Ader, a casino industry analyst for Bear, Stearns & Co.
"It's different, it's exciting. In a market where there hasn't been much new and exciting for several years, it's going to get a lot of business," Ader said.
Kenneth Condon, executive vice president of operations for Bally's Park Place, said casino officials knew the Wild, Wild West was scoring with gamblers as month-by-month results came in.
More impressive was the fact that it was only open for half the year and still made a huge impact on the bottom line, he said.
"It's really the first truly themed casino in Atlantic City mirroring some of the casino developments in Las Vegas. It's something entirely different than what Atlantic City has been exposed to," Condon said.
The Sands Hotel Casino, which filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in January, was the loss leader at $37.7 million.
The 12 casinos took in $4.2 billion and earned only $6.4 million, due to "substantial extraordinary charges," according to the commission. More importantly, perhaps, was the fact that they reduced their promotional expenses - the amount shelled out in coin bonuses and other incentives aimed at luring customers - by $17 million.
In 1996, the casinos engaged in a fierce battle for market share in which promotional expenses soared, hurting the bottom lines.
"Everybody's trying to be more disciplined because their shareholders are criticizing them. Clearly, there's an attempt being made to scale back as best they can. But if a competitor starts giving away coin, you risk losing market share if you don't," Ader said.
The average occupancy rate for the city's 11,889 casino hotel rooms was 89.6 percent, according to the commission.
Following are the casinos and their profit or loss for 1997:
-Atlantic City Hilton, $3.9 million loss.
-Bally's Park Place, $51.1 million profit.
-Caesars Atlantic City Hotel Casino, $5.4 million profit.
-Claridge Casino Hotel, $3.9 million profit.
-Harrah's Casino Hotel, $26 million profit.
-Resorts Casino Hotel, $5.9 million loss.
-Sands Hotel Casino, $37.7 million loss.
-Showboat Casino Hotel, $11.1 million profit.
-Tropicana Casino and Resort, $1.6 million loss.
-Trump Marina Hotel Casino, $28 million loss.
-Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, $4.1 million loss.
-Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, $10.2 million loss.
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