Merger helps power gains for Golden Entertainment

A 2015 merger helped drive strong financial gains for a locally based gaming company.

Golden Entertainment, which owns four casinos and 50 taverns across Nevada, Maryland and Montana, on Thursday reported net income of $2.2 million, or 10 cents per share, in the quarter that ended March 31. That compares with a net loss of $1.7 million, or 13 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2015.

The swing came largely from a merger in July. That’s when a subsidiary of Lakes Entertainment merged with Sartini Gaming to form Golden Entertainment. The year-ago results don’t include Sartini’s operations.

Quarterly net revenue was $91 million, up 7.4 percent compared with the merged companies’ combined sales of $84.8 million a year earlier.

Blake Sartini, Golden’s chairman of the board, president and CEO, called the period “a very productive quarter on several fronts.”

The slot-machine route operation, which has 12,000 devices in 980 locations companywide, posted an 11.2 percent spike in revenue. Its tavern segment, which includes PT’s Pubs and PT’s Gold, Sean Patrick’s, Sierra Gold and Sierra Junction brands, grew revenue by 9.5 percent. Sales will likely continue to improve, as Golden Entertainment looks to add four new taverns across the Las Vegas Valley through 2016.

Sartini told investors in a Thursday conference call that a brighter economic picture across the valley will help Golden reach its goals. He pointed to the valley’s record population of more than 2.1 million residents, and a jobs base that’s nearing its all-time high.

“We continue to see opportunities to expand our market-leading business in Southern Nevada,” he said.

Contact Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com. Find @_JRobison on Twitter.