Trump Hotels names new president

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 9:05 a.m.

BLOOMBERG NEWS

Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. named Scott Butera president and chief operating officer after he helped broker an agreement with bondholders to restructure the company's debt.

Butera, 38, replaces Mark Brown as second-in-command to Donald Trump, who remains chairman and chief executive, the Atlantic City-based company said in a statement. Brown will continue to serve as president and chief executive officer of the company's casino operations group.

Trump Hotels last week said it will enter a bankruptcy in November to cut debt by $400 million under the bondholder agreement. Butera, previously a banker at UBS AG, was hired last year to take charge of reducing the company's $1.8 billion debt. He is currently executive vice president of corporate and strategic development for Trump Hotels.

The appointment is effective upon receiving regulatory approval.

Separately, the company said its third-quarter loss widened to $25.1 million, or 84 cents a share, from $12.4 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose less than 1 percent to $309.3 million.

Trump Hotels, which owns three Atlantic City casinos including the Taj Mahal, blamed higher competition and increased promotional spending in that market. The company has said the restructuring will allow it to reinvest and expand its properties to boost revenue. The company has lost money for eight years. The company also owns a riverboat casino in Indiana.