Caesars sees demand matching growth

Wednesday, April 7, 2004 | 9:07 a.m.

BLOOMBERG NEWS

Caesars Entertainment Inc., which is spending $376 million to add rooms and convention space at its Caesars Palace property in Las Vegas, expects demand for accommodations to match an increasing supply of hotel rooms in the city, Chief Financial Officer Harry Hagerty said.

"We're very confident that the additions we're making, coupled with the additions that our competitors are making, will be well absorbed by the demand," Hagerty said in an interview.

Caesars Entertainment, which changed its name from Park Place Entertainment Corp. in January, is the biggest U.S. casino company by sales. Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment is adding convention space and building a 949-room tower to increase the capacity of Caesars Palace by about 40 percent, the company said.

"The core driver is, of course, the convention business," Hagerty said. "We are seeing increased numbers of shows and increased delegates to those shows."

Caesars Entertainment last month raised its estimate for first-quarter profit, excluding certain items, to 19 cents a share from 11 cents to 13 cents. The company cited higher hotel- room rates in Las Vegas and bigger winnings from gamblers.

Caesars Entertainment will report first-quarter results April 22. Hagerty's comments were scheduled to be broadcast Thursday on Bloomberg Television. The shares fell 1 cent to $14.07 Tuesday.