IN BRIEF
Las Vegas Sands amends loan pact
Las Vegas Sands Corp. amended a portion of its loan agreement that covers the company's Macau casino operations Thursday.
The amendment to the company's $3.3 billion Macau credit facility boosted the interest rate, but gives Las Vegas Sands 18 months of covenant relief and the ability to pursue a limited initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange through the sale of shares in the company's Macau casinos.
The news was met positively Thursday on Wall Street. Shares of Las Vegas Sands closed at $13.79 on the New York Stock Exchange, up $1.50, or 12.21 percent.
JPMorgan gaming analyst Joe Greff said the announcement improves the company's liquidity and gives the casino operator increased financial flexibility.
Las Vegas Sands halted construction last November on several projects on the Cotai Strip region of Macau as financing dried up. The company avoided bankruptcy through a $2.1 billion recapitalization, which included $1 billion cash from company Chairman Sheldon Adelson.
Bally shares jump even after revenues slide
Wall Street was impressed with Bally Technologies' efforts to grow its fourth-quarter earnings despite a 17.9 percent decline in revenues.
The Las Vegas-based slot machine maker told investors it cut costs and the slot machines it did sell came with a higher price tag than a year ago.
"Despite a challenging external environment in fiscal year 2009 that pinched casinos' capital expenditure budgets impacting revenues, Bally was able to achieve peak earnings," Union Gaming Group's Bill Lerner said in a report to investors.
Bally reported net income of $33.2 million, or 58 cents a share, for the quarter that ended June 30, compared with $31.3 million, or 54 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenues fell to $203.1 million from $247.4 million.
Analysts were willing to look beyond the revenue slide.
"The company is well positioned to benefit from the expected improvement in demand over the next several quarters," Oppenheimer gaming analyst David Katz told investors.
Republic Airways wins battle for Frontier
Republic Airways Holdings won the bankruptcy court auction for Frontier Airlines on Thursday, buying the Denver-based carrier for almost $108.8 million after rival Southwest Airlines Co.'s bid was rejected.
Southwest said its $170 million bid was deemed unacceptable because the carrier would not back down from a requirement that its pilots and Frontier's work out their integration before the deal would close. That was a nonissue for Republic, which has said it plans to keep operating Frontier as a stand-alone carrier.
Pilot union negotiators for Southwest and Frontier talked until late Wednesday without reaching a deal.
Denver travelers may see little change, but the deal is huge for Republic. Combined with its recent purchase of Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines, the Frontier deal transforms Republic from a strictly for-hire operator of airplanes for big-name carriers to being in the business of competing for passengers.
Republic's bid has it buying all of Frontier Holdings when that company emerges from Chapter 11 protection, which is expected later this year. It also agreed to waive any recovery on its $150 million general unsecured claim.
NV Energy to purchase power from solar plant
NV Energy said Thursday that it entered a long-term power purchase agreement to buy energy produced at a 26-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant near Apex.
Renewable Ventures is building the plant.
It's the second such agreement NV Energy has announced in the last month. The utility said earlier that it would buy power from a 20-megawatt solar array in Searchlight.
The companies wouldn't disclose the terms of the agreement, which the state Public Utilities Commission must approve.
Nevada law mandates that NV Energy obtain 25 percent of all its power from renewable sources by 2025.
