Nevada Casino Revenue Falls 12.4% To $909m in January

On Friday, The Nevada Gaming Commission released its casino figures for January revealing a 12.4% fall in revenue to $909.2 million. January’s results were significantly down on the $1.038 billion taken in the same month last year, when the state had its first billion dollar gaming month in over three years.
In January, 2013, the Las Vegas Strip generated $507 million in revenue compared to $623.5 for the same month in 2012. Accounting for 85% of The Strip’s total decline was baccarat, which saw a huge 50.8% fall in revenue to $95.5 million
Accounting for much of last year’s windfall was the Chinese New Year celebration which fell in January, 2012, but this year the same holiday occurred in February, leading Wells Fargo Securities gaming analyst Cameron McKnight to conclude that the combined January-February figures will offer more meaningful comparisons for annual growth.
As Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon explains: “During recent investor presentations, management teams from Las Vegas Strip casino operators have boasted that the ‘Year of the Snake was a good one.’ The poor optical results were significantly affected by the timing of Chinese New Year.”
Nevertheless, even without baccarat the Strip recorded an almost 4% fall in its slots and table games revenue for January. Overall, Nevada’s 12.4% gaming revenue decline was the largest recorded by the state since July 2009.
During January, all the major gaming markets recorded negative results with The Strip leading the way down 18% to $507m, followed by North Las Vegas down 11.9% to $25.4m. Also experiencing falling monthly revenues was Laughlin down 6.7% to $38.2m; Mesquite down 5% to $9.9m; Dowtown out by 4.9% to $4.7m and Washoe County down 1.9% to $52.7m. Bucking the trend slightly, however, was Boulder Strip which saw its revenue results remain fairly static, up by just 0.7% to $84.4m.
Based on January’s revenue figures, however, Nevada collected $67.9 million in gaming taxes in February, up 18.3%. Gaming tax collections are currently 5.5% higher overall for the first 8 months of the fiscal year.