Despite recent quarterly losses, Las Vegas-based Golden Entertainment CEO Blake Sartini was upbeat about the casino company’s plans to complete the design of the iconic 800 foot Stratosphere’s new meeting space as well as close the purchase of two properties in Laughlin. It acquired the Strat in 2017.
Sartini spoke to Wall Street analysts last week, when he told them about plans to bring more visitors to the Stratosphere. “Ultimately the meeting space will allow this property to be competitive midweek’’ he said.
“Throughout 2019, we will continue to focus on upgrades to the Strat’s (food-and-beverage) outlets while remodeling the casino floor and developing new entertainment amenities,” Sartini said. “In addition, we anticipate renovating additional rooms and accelerating the renovation of suites.”
He also addressed net loss of $25.9 million, or 90 cents per share, in the fourth quarter on revenue of $210.1 million. This compares to a net loss of $13.5 million, (53 cents per share), on revenue of $183.7 million in 2017’s fourth quarter.
The Stratosphere, which has 2,427 rooms, gets more than two thirds of its bookings from online travel agencies. It welcomes 1.2 million visitors a year. The new owner will invest about $53 million in the property this year, on top of the $24 million it invested last year. It is building a new bar and sports book on the casino floor and upgrading about a tenth of its rooms.
It is transforming the tower’s three floors into the “SkyPod,” which will include the Jump and Top of the World restaurants. The $140 million renovation is expected to be completed in 2021, said Sartini.
He also talked optimistically about the future of Laughlin, where Golden controls 40 percent of the hotel market now that it has purchased the Colorado Belle for $190 million and the Edgewater for $155 million from Marnell Gaming.
Golden owns hotel-casinos in Nevada and Maryland and slot routes in Nevada and Montana.
The company is also enthusiastic about “distributed gaming,” which is deploying slot machines in non-casino venues such as bars, restaurants and civic organizations.
Sartini predicted that distributive gaming could be “one of the biggest growth initiatives’.’
In January it was announced that bookmaker William Hill will operate sports book at Golden’s two Laughlin casinos. It already provides this service at Golden’s properties in Nevada, Maryland and Montana.
