Trump loss widens on AC competition

Thursday, July 29, 2004 | 9:19 a.m.

BLOOMBERG NEWS

ATLANTIC CITY -- Donald Trump's Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. on Wednesday said its second-quarter loss widened to $17.6 million because of more competition in Atlantic City.

Trump Hotels said its loss widened to 59 cents a share from $10 million, or 46 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue fell 4.4 percent to $293.2 million, the Atlantic City-based company said in a statement. The company owns three Atlantic City casinos, including the Taj Mahal.

Trump Hotels said higher gas prices cut the gambling budgets of its customers, while the opening of the Borgata casino last year reduced revenue for the 12 existing casinos in Atlantic City. The company is in talks to renegotiate the terms of $1.8 billion in debt as a condition to receive a $400 million equity investment to reduce debt and invest in its properties.

Trump Hotels first announced the possible investment from Credit Suisse First Boston's DLJ Merchant Banking Partners III LP in February. The funds are even more important to the company now, Trump Hotels said, because of acquisitions in the casino industry, including Harrah's Entertainment Inc.'s agreement to buy Caesars Entertainment Inc. and because of Pennsylvania's decision to legalize slot machines.

The company operates separately from Trump's real estate business, which includes condominium developments in New York. Trump also is the star of the NBC reality television show "The Apprentice."