Gaming briefs for May 27, 2004

Thursday, May 27, 2004 | 10:46 a.m.

Interest payment made

ATLANTIC CITY -- Donald Trump's Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. made a $73.1 million interest payment due on $1.3 billion in debt, just days before the company would have been in default.

The payment on 11.25 percent first-mortgage notes due in 2006 was made Wednesday night, the company said in a statement. Trump Hotels skipped the interest payment when it was due May 1, saying it would make it before May 30.

Trump Hotels, which has lost money for eight years, is in talks with bondholders to renegotiate the terms of $1.8 billion in debt as a condition to receive a $400 million equity investment. High interest payments have kept Chief Executive Donald Trump from reinvesting in his company's properties to remain competitive in Atlantic City.

Using the grace period "certainly underscores how thin the liquidity situation is," said John Maxwell, a debt analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York. "The leverage is something the company has to deal with."

Hard Rock president nominated for seat on board

Hard Rock Hotel President Kevin Kelley has been nominated by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce to replace Nevada Power Co. President Donald "Pat" Shalmy on the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's 13-member board.

Kelley's nomination will be considered by the LVCVA's board at its next meeting June 8. The board's seven public sector officials will vote on the nomination.

Shalmy served on the board about a year was a temporary replacement for MGM MIRAGE executive Bill Hornbuckle, who resigned from the LVCVA board after MGM MIRAGE withdrew from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce over a tax dispute.

Kelley would serve as one of six private sector board members.

Both the Hard Rock and the LVCVA have been in the news for months with their cutting-edge advertising campaigns. The LVCVA has gained notoriety for its "What happens here, stays here" campaign while the Hard Rock's ads touting sex, drugs and the temptation to cheat have drawn regulatory scrutiny.