Thursday, July 31, 2008

Meadows dents MTR revenue

MTR Gaming Group on Wednesday reported a $2.3 million quarterly loss but higher revenue, mainly from the recent launch of table games at its Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort in West Virginia.

But competition from slots at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, which opened last summer in Washington County, hurt Mountaineer's results, MTR said yesterday. Its slots revenue dropped by $5.7 million, even though Mountaineer's overall revenue increased 11 percent to more than $75 million.

Total revenue increased to almost $127 million from less than $115 million a year ago. The Chester, W.Va.-based company introduced poker and other table games in the spring.

"Table games is a relatively new product, and we are penetrating the market more each week with that," CEO Edson "Ted" Arneault said on a conference call with analysts.


To increase traffic at Mountaineer, the company hopes to partner with state government to build a highway bridge over the Ohio River, Arneault said. MTR still need approvals from the state of Ohio.

Arneault is to step down as CEO around year-end. The board has not settled on his successor yet, he said.

The loss of $2.3 million, or minus 8 cents a share, compared with a $502,000 loss the year before. Wall Street had expected a loss of 3 cents, according to an analyst poll by Zacks Investment Research.

MTR's core assets are: Mountaineer, which has horse racing, slot machines, gaming tables and a resort hotel and entertainment; Presque Isle Downs & Casino, Erie, which has horse racing and slot machines; and Scioto Downs, Columbus, a harness racing track.

The company also has properties in Michigan and Minnesota. It employs 2,300 people at Mountaineer, 730 at Presque Isle and 270 elsewhere.

MTR stock closed yesterday at $3.85, down 10 cents a share.



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