Isle reports loss at LV Lady Luck

Monday, Feb. 18, 2002 | 10:38 a.m.

Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. posted a better-than-expected performance in the quarter ending Jan. 27, despite a disappointing performance from downtown Las Vegas' Lady Luck hotel-casino.

The Biloxi, Miss., casino operator reported net income of $5.6 million, or 19 cents per share, for the quarter. This compared to a loss of $3 million, or 10 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

These earnings were driven lower by a one-time after-tax charge of $2.4 million from the extinguishment of debt. Before this charge, Isle earned $8.1 million, or 27 cents per share; analysts had expected 21 cents per share before one-time charges.

Revenues rose 10 percent to $262.1 million, while cash flow increased 31 percent to $56.9 million.

The Lady Luck was the company's poorest performer during the quarter. The downtown casino reported negative cash flow of $2.2 million, compared to positive cash flow of $126,000 in the year-ago period.

Isle blamed this on a "sharp decline" in travel to Las Vegas, and the tougher competition that arose from this slowdown. The only other Isle casino to report negative cash flow was in Tunica, Miss., which had negative cash flow of $869,000.

Of Isle's 14 casino properties, eight posted cash flow increases. The most profitable casino for the company was Lake Charles, La., with $14.7 million in cash flow, up 2 percent. The largest increase came in Kansas City, which reported $4.1 million in cash flow, compared to a cash flow loss of $589,000.

Isle opened its 14th property in Boonville, Mo., on Dec. 6. The $75 million property generated $1.7 million of cash flow during the quarter.