Isle of Capri’s quarterly earnings slightly beat Wall Street estimates

Matt Moore

Friday, June 16, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

BILOXI, Miss. -- Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. announced Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled from a year ago, beating Wall Street estimates.

Isle of Capri earned $14 million, or 44 cents per share, compared with $6.4 million in the same period a year ago, an increase of 118 percent. Wall Street had projected a profit of around 39 cents per share.

"The numbers were excellent," said Dennis Forst, an analyst with McDonald Investments Inc. "I was surprised that at almost every property, revenues and cash flow were moderately better than I had been forecasting."

Investors responded by bidding up Isle of Capri stock. The company's shares finished 31 cents higher at $17.25 on the Nasdaq.

The company operates 11 casinos in Mississippi, Louisiana, Colorado and Iowa.

During the quarter, it closed on its purchase of the Kansas City Flamingo Hilton Riverboat. The Biloxi-based company also wrapped up deals to acquire Lady Luck Gaming Corp. and Davis Gaming in Boonville, Mo.

"We look forward to these acquisitions, along with the stability of our existing Isle properties, to be the engine that drives the future growth of Isle of Capri," said Bernard Goldstein, company chairman and CEO.

Lake Charles and Bossier City, La. led the company's 11 properties in revenue.

Daniel Davila, an analyst with Hibernia Southcoast Capital in New Orleans, said the company's push to add more hotel rooms has propelled the growth.

"They have been able to sustain their growth in virtually every market they're in, not the least of which is being able to hold their own in Biloxi," Davila said. "The Lake Charles and Bossier City markets are thriving and they're taking their disproportionate share of those markets."

Isle's Louisiana casino revenue for the quarter totaled $96.5 million, or 41 percent of its quarterly revenue.

In Mississippi, all of its casinos posted steady gains in revenue, including Biloxi which increased to $25.2 million for the quarter, a gain of 65 percent compared to the same time a year ago.

In Vicksburg, Isle's casino boasted revenue of $18.2 million, up from $6.1 million the same time a year ago.

"You've got to give them credit for better management," Forst said.