Thursday, February 03, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Gaming Control report shows casino net income $1.33 billion

Strip resorts drove the state's gaming engine in fiscal year 2004, accounting for $1.03 billion of the $1.33 billion in net income generated by 258 casinos.

The figures, released Wednesday by the State Gaming Control Board, were part of the Gaming Abstract, a report covering the combined financial information by Nevada casinos grossing more than $1 million in gaming revenue during the fiscal year that ended June 30.

The figures are compiled for analysts, bankers, casino insiders and other interested parties to give a year-over-year comparison and to help assess the industry's health in the current fiscal year.

"It's a tool to help measure the industry in Nevada," said Frank Streshley, senior research analyst for the control board who oversees the project in which balance sheets and income statements from the various properties are compiled.

"We don't publish the results for individual properties, but it helps present an analysis of the fiscal year six months later, so you have an idea of how everything might be coming together," Streshley said.

In fiscal 2004, Nevada casinos generated total revenue -- money spent by customers on gaming, rooms, food, beverage, and other attractions -- of $19.6 billion, an increase of 8.9 percent over the $18 billion reported by 256 casinos in 2003.

Net income -- the money retained by casinos after expenses have been paid but before deducting federal income taxes and accounting for extraordinary expenses -- amounted to 6.8 percent of the total revenue.

According to the abstract, gaming revenue accounted for $9.9 billion, or 50.5 percent of total revenue; room revenue was $3.8 billion, or 19.5 percent of the total revenue; and food accounted for $2.7 billion, or 13.7 percent, of the total revenue.

The 258 casinos paid $816.4 million in gaming taxes and fees, equating to 8.3 percent of their gaming revenue.

The net income reported in 2004 was the highest since fiscal year 1996, when Nevada casinos participating in the abstract reported $1.35 billion.

The abstract showed that casinos operated by 22 publicly traded corporations accounted for 78.6 percent of the total gaming revenue generated statewide.

On the Strip, resorts participating in the abstract reported $419.4 million in total gaming revenue, while rooms accounted for $25.8 million of the total revenue.