Las Vegas Lady Luck loses money in quarter

Friday, Aug. 17, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Flooding in the Midwest, a tropical storm in South, continued losses in Las Vegas and a slowing economy all contributed to a 45 percent dip in first-quarter earnings at Isle of Capri Casinos Inc.

Isle of Capri reported net income of $5.8 million, or 20 cents a share, for the quarter ended July 29. That's down from net income of $10.5 million, or 33 cents a share, for the same period last year.

Revenues were up 12 percent to $262.9 million for the quarter, but cash flow fell 10 percent to $52.1 million.

As in the year-ago quarter, the Lady Luck hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas was a detractor to Isle's earnings. The Lady Luck reported negative cash flow of $1.12 million for the quarter, in line with the loss reported a year ago. But revenues at the property were down 29 percent to $9.2 million. Only one other Isle property, located in Tunica, Miss., reported negative cash flow during the quarter.

Cash flow was down significantly at five Isle properties during the quarter -- Bossier City, La., Lake Charles, La., Lula, Miss., Davenport, Iowa, and Marquette, Iowa. Davenport and Marquette were forced to close temporarily after flooding earlier in the year, while the Lake Charles area was hurt by flooding from Tropical Storm Allison in June. Bossier City was impacted by the opening of a competing casino.

"The growth of revenues in several of our markets has slowed considerably, which we believe is due to the softening economy," said Isle Chairman and Chief Executive Bernard Goldstein.

Bucking the trend were Isle's casinos in Kansas City, Mo., Black Hawk, Colo., and Bettendorf, Iowa, which all saw cash flow gains during the quarter.

Isle, based in Biloxi, Miss., operates 14 casinos in six states.