Riverboat operator posts improved earnings

Thursday, May 4, 2000 | 10:24 a.m.

Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corp. today reported net income of $20.5 million for the quarter ending March 31, a 23 percent increase over the year-ago quarter.

Revenues took a much more significant jump, rising 115 percent to $258 million, while cash flow rose 104 percent to $73 million.

Most of the increases were caused by the addition of Empress casinos in Hammond, Ind., and Joliet, Ill. The casinos, acquired in late 1999, contributed a combined $128 million in revenues and $37.6 million in cash flow. But Horseshoe's casinos in Tunica, Miss., and Bossier City, La., also reported increased earnings -- Tunica's cash flow rose 20 percent, to $24.2 million, while Bossier City cash flow increased 15 percent to $16.1 million.

Horseshoe said it launched a $45 million expansion of its Tunica casino, which will add 21,000 square feet of casino space, 400 additional slots and 10 table games.

Joliet-based Horseshoe is headed by Jack Binion, former top executive at Binion's Horseshoe hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas. Horseshoe Gaming is no longer connected to Binion's Horseshoe.