Casino operator posts loss

Thursday, Feb. 15, 2001 | 11 a.m.

The owner and operator of the Lady Luck hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas today reported a significant loss for the third quarter, as weather and one-time charges took their toll on earnings.

Biloxi, Miss.-based Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. reported a net loss of $3 million, or 10 cents per share, for the quarter ending Jan. 28. That compares to net income of $4.9 million, or 19 cents per share, for the year-ago quarter.

Included in that loss was a $4.3 million pre-tax, one-time charge for investment write-offs and company purchases. Even without this charge, Isle would have lost 2 cents per share. Revenues, however, rose 66 percent to $254.6 million, while cash flow increased 34 percent to $43.6 million.

Isle blamed "extreme weather conditions" for disrupting operations at a number of its properties, and for delaying expansion projects in Lula, Miss., and Kansas City. Isle also said it was hurt by larger-than-expected losses from the opening of its expansion in Tunica, Miss.; increased competition and highway construction in Bossier City, La.; and "a slowing of market growth in several markets perhaps due in part to less favorable economic conditions."

Six Isle properties -- Biloxi, Bossier City, Tunica, Lula, Kansas City and Marquette, Iowa -- showed cash flow declines in the quarter, while Tunica and Kansas City showed negative cash flow. The Lady Luck in Las Vegas, however, reported $126,000 in positive cash flow, compared to negative cash flow of $2.1 million in the year-ago quarter.