Harrah’s casino posts profit, misses target

Thursday, May 16, 2002 | 10:58 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- JCC Holding Co., which owns Harrah's New Orleans Casino, posted a larger first-quarter profit, but did not meet its revenue projections for the past year.

The company Wednesday recorded net earnings of $2.9 million, or 23 cents per share, for the first three months of 2002, a 7 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2001.

A report, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Wednesday, covers the casino's first full year of operation since emerging from bankruptcy at the end of March 2001. During that time, the casino got a tax break from the state and permission to operate its own hotel.

The bankruptcy reorganization also eliminated hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.

JCC Holding President Paul Debban said the casino fell $17 million short of its goal, set in the company's reorganization plan last year, to win $268 million from gamblers during the first 12 months after bankruptcy.

Debban blamed the shortfall on poor promotions by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas, which manages the casino and owns 49 percent of JCC Holding's stock. Harrah's denies Debban's charges.