Paris resort exceeding expectations

Wednesday, Sept. 29, 1999 | 11:05 a.m.

Park Place Entertainment Corp.'s four-week-old Paris Las Vegas casino resort is earning more than the world's largest casino company had expected, Chief Financial Officer Scott LaPorta told the Banc of America Securities Investment Conference in San Francisco.

Las Vegas-based Park Place had previously projected a 15 percent-to-16-percent return on its $785 million investment in Paris. That would have meant cash flow, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, of about $125 million annually.

"Based on the early results, we will handily beat the 16 percent return," LaPorta said.

Paris is likely to generate "by far" the top return of the four major new casino resorts that have opened in Las Vegas over the past year, said Banc of America Securities analyst J. Cogan, who rates Park Place shares "strong buy."

That's partly because Park Place Chief Executive Arthur Goldberg spent less building his new property than Mandalay Resort Group spent on its Mandalay Bay casino resort, than Las Vegas Sands Inc. spent on its Venetian or than Mirage Resorts Inc. spent on the Bellagio.