Terror fears hurting Four Queens performance

Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2001 | 11:03 a.m.

The owner of downtown Las Vegas' Four Queens hotel-casino reported a wider loss for the quarter ending Sept. 30.

Elsinore Corp. of Las Vegas posted a loss of $925,000, or 19 cents per share, compared to a loss of $394,000, or 8 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Both quarters' losses included undeclared dividends on preferred stock; before these dividends, Elsinore lost $637,000 on the quarter, compared to a loss of $13,000 in the year-ago period.

Cash flow fell 28 percent to $1.8 million, while revenues were down 0.4 percent to $13.3 million.

Earnings in the year-ago quarter were boosted by settlement payments of $850,000 received in the third quarter of 2000 from the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.

At one time Elsinore had an agreement to develop a Southern California casino for the tribe, but the tribe later backed out of the deal.

The loss of this income was partially offset by a strong performance from the Four Queens' casino operations. Casino revenues for the company rose 12 percent to $9.6 million, despite the post-Sept. 11 slowdown.

Food and beverage revenues were up 7 percent to $2.5 million. But hotel revenues declined 1.5 percent to $2.1 million.

Since Sept. 11, however, Elsinore said the Four Queens has seen a drop in visitor volumes.

"We have experienced declines, most notably in room and casino revenues, which have materially adversely affected our operating results since Sept. 11," said Philip Madow, president and general manager of the Four Queens.