Thursday, May 15, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Coast Casinos reports jumps in earnings, income for quarter

Coast Casinos reported first-quarter revenue, cash flow and income jumps in a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Net income was up 20.4 percent to $13.7 million from $11.4 million, robust performance Coast credited to a major expansion of The Orleans, which fueled the Tropicana Avenue property's 17.3 percent revenue increase.

Coast Casinos revenue jumped by 8.4 percent to $146.4 million in the quarter ended March 31, compared with $135.1 million in the 2002 quarter.

Cash flow, defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, was up 22.4 percent to $29.7 million from $24.3 million.

The valley's second-biggest locals casino operator behind Station Casinos, Coast operates Barbary Coast, Gold Coast and Suncoast in addition to The Orleans.

Coast Chairman Michael Gaughan recently withdrew the company's planned public offering of stock and the company remains privately held, but it files with the commission because it has $454.7 million in publicly held long-term debt.