Mississippi casino revenues climb 3 percent in second quarter

Friday, July 21, 2000 | 10:15 a.m.

Revenue for the April, May and June period last year were $642.7 million.

The figures represent a significant drop-off from the 21 percent rise in second-quarter numbers from 1998 to 1999, said Tom Graves, gaming analyst with S&P Equity Group in New York.

"The bottom line is that the growth looks a little lackluster," Graves said.

Graves said the casino industry is largely driven by new supply.

The Beau Rivage Casino opened last year in Biloxi.

Now that Beau Rivage has passed its first birthday, revenue growth will start to slow, Graves said.

This year, revenue for Gulf Coast casinos increased 2 percent, from $266.7 million to $272.3 million for the months of April, May and June.

In 1999, the coast casinos saw a 33 percent increase over 1998 for the same period.

The Mississippi River casinos at Natchez, Greenville, Lula and Vicksburg and in Tunica County fared slightly better, with a 4 percent increase, from $376 million to $390.5 million.

The addition of casino hotel rooms or new facilities is the quickest way for casinos to increase profit, but anything new brings in more people, Graves said.

"Our market here is amenity-driven, and every time something is added, the market reflects that with an increase," said Curt Follmer, general manager of Rainbow Casino in Vicksburg.

While gross gaming revenues have slowed, the state's tax revenues from gaming remain steady.

Gambling tax collections for the 1999-2000 fiscal year ending June 30 were $314.5 million, up 12 percent from $281.5 million the previous year. Of that amount, $158.4 million went to the state treasury, $51.1 million went into a bond payment fund and $105 million was returned to local governments.

In the 1998-99 fiscal year, the tax collections were up 12 percent from 1997-98.