Despite the bad press surrounding Atlantic City municipal government’s financial struggles and the announced closing of the Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City’s casino industry brought in 9 million in profits for the first six months of 2016—a 21 percent bump over last year.
Six of the city’s eight casinos saw profit increases, including the Taj Mahal, which turned a $2 million profit for the six months after losing nearly $10 million for the first six months of 2015.
According to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the city’s casinos reported a collective second-quarter profit of about $259 million, compared with $213 million in 2015. Operating profits were up 15 percent in the second quarter of the year at $152 million, a 15 percent increase compared with $132 million in the second quarter of 2015.
New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chairman Matt Levinson released a statement saying that the results show that “slowly but surely” profits are increasing for the resort’s casinos and noting that profits are the highest for the first six-month period since 2010.
“For the first time in eight years, every single bricks-and-mortar casino reported positive operating income,” Levinson said.
According to an analysis by the Associated Press, the Borgata reported the biggest increase, up 27 percent in the second quarter to $106 million, compared with the same period last year.
Resorts reported profits of $5.7 million, up 26 percent compared with last year; Tropicana posted a profit of $17 million, an increase of 25 percent over 2015; Golden Nugget saw a profit of $13.3 million, up 12 percent compared with last year; and Bally’s was up to $17 million, or about 8 percent over 2015.
The Trump Taj Mahal reported profits of $2 million, compared with operating losses of $9.6 million in the second quarter of 2015. Despite that, the casino has announced it will close October 10. Casino workers at the property have been on strike since July 1.
Caesars saw a decline in profits of 0.2 percent compared with 2015 to $36.5 million in the second quarter of 2016. Harrah’s profits were down 3 percent to $57 million.
Gross operating profit reflects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and other charges and is a widely accepted measure of profitability in the Atlantic City casino industry.
For the state’s online casinos, Caesars Interactive-NJ posted a second-quarter profit of $5.2 million, compared with $857,000 a year ago. Resorts digital posted a loss of $1.4 million, compared with losses of $3 million in 2015.
In other information released by the state, the average hotel room in the city cost about $102 for the first six months of the year, with the highest average at the Borgata, $129.46, and the lowest at the Golden Nugget, $77.89. The occupancy rate in the city’s casino hotels for the first half of 2016 was 78.9 percent, up half a percentage point from the same period a year ago.
