Revel Casino Weighing On Atlantic City Casino Revenues

The gambling market in Atlantic City seems to be finally looking up after the state Division of Gaming Enforcement released a report showing 11 out of its 12 casinos had seen their profits improve by 2.3% in Q3 2012 and up 9% to $454 million for the first nine months of this year.
Unfortunately, the bad news is that Atlantic City’s 12th casino, the $2.4 billion mega-entertainment resort called Revel, weighed heavily on AC’s total figures resulting in an overall 18% decline in profits to $149.5 million compared to the first nine months of 2011.
Revel opened in April this year, and has yet to achieve the level of success required to furnish its huge debts, resulting in a $37 million for the quarter alone. Striking a positive note, however, Revel’s CEO Kevin DeSanctis, commented:
“We have work to do on the gaming front, but we are certain that Revel has the potential to become the beachfront destination on the East Coast..Our business model is new to Atlantic City and it’s unrealistic to expect Revel’s new business model to resonate with those who have known Atlantic City as a purely gaming destination over the past 30 years.”
Overall, though, Atlantic City’s latest financial results had many encouraging aspects to it, including a 17% improvement in quarterly revenue derived from rooms, food and beverages, entertainment and other areas. In addition, occupied room nights reached a new quarterly record of 1.56 million, up 11.6% compared to the same period last year.
Generating the highest gross operating profit during the quarter was Harrah’s Resort up 29% to $42.6 million, then Caesars Atlantic City also up over 29% to $36.2 million. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa showed a 33% decline in perating profit to $34.4 million, while Bally’s Atlantic City was up 11% to $19 million; the Showboat Casino Hotel up 7.7% to $18 million profit; the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort down 18.5% to $16.7 million; and the Tropicana Casino and Resort down 4% to $16 million.
Rounding off the figures, the Golden Nugget Atlantic City was up 13% to $2.4 million; Trump Plaza Hotel down 34% to$2.35 million; while the Resorts Casino Hotel showed a $694,000 profit for the third quarter.