Atlantic City Casinos Break 40 Month Downswing

Stuck in the doldrums since August 2008, Atlantic City casinos have finally broken 40 months of decline for the beleaguered gambling resort, after posting a 4.2% increase in revenue to $246.5 million for December 2011, compared to the same month last year.
In addition, the 4.2% increase represented the highest monthly rise in revenue since December 2006, and commenting on the encouraging figures, Casino Association of New Jersey President Robert Griffin, said:
“December’s results clearly show that the future of Atlantic City is a bright one. This positive turnaround is a testament to the vast offerings of all the properties. I believe that we will look back at December 2011 as the beginning of the rebirth of Atlantic City.”
Throughout December, Atlantic City’s 11 casinos reported an 8.3% increase in slots revenue to $174.1 million, while table-games revenue actually fell by 4.3% to $72.5 million from a year earlier.
In total, seven of the 11 casinos posted an increase in revenue with Resorts Casino Hotel leading the way up 23.1% to almost $11 million, followed by The Borgata up 19.1% to nearly $56 million.  Out of the four casinos reporting a decline in revenue, Trump Plaza’s was the most dramatic at 14.9%, followed by ACH at 5.6%, Bally’s at 2.6% and Golden Nugget at 1.4%.
Overall, the increase in December’s revenue came too late to improve Atlantic City’s annual casino result, which was down 6.9% to $3.3 billion in 2011. It also marked five years of consecutive revenue decline for a city affected by the economic downturn in the US, as well as increased competition from neighboring states.
However, industry experts believe 2012 could mark the beginning of recovery for Atlantic City, especially factoring in the new $2.4 billion Revel casino scheduled to open in May.
Striking an optimistic tone for the future, Tropicana Casino and Resort president Tony Rodio, said: “We’ve been seeing this trend for a while now, the declines getting smaller, things getting a little bit better. We’ll have a lot of positive months sprinkled into 2012.”