Riviera posts loss; occupancy rebounds

Monday, April 22, 2002 | 11:13 a.m.

Riviera Holdings Corp., owner of the Riviera resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Riviera Black Hawk casino in Black Hawk, Colo., today reported a quarterly loss of $1.8 million, or 82 cents per share, compared to a loss of $658,000, or 18 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2001.

Revenues for the Las Vegas-based company for the first quarter were $46.5 million, down 11 percent from $52.2 million in the first quarter of 2001.

Riviera said occupancy at its Las Vegas property was 87.9 percent for the quarter, compared to 96.3 percent from the first quarter of 2001. However, Riviera President Bob Vannucci said hotel occupancy improved each month during the quarter and returned to normal levels by March.

"We had an excellent Super Bowl and saw our hotel occupancy increase dramatically in February and March," he said.

William L. Westerman, chief executive officer, said Riviera has filed an application with the New Mexico Racing Commission to build and operate a horse racing track with 600 slot machines in Hobbs, N.M., and is exploring the possibility of a hotel-casino in Jefferson County, Mo.

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