Eldorado Resorts said net revenues were down 2.5 percent to 6.8 million in the second quarter, but the Isle of Capri acquisition helped boost adjusted EBITDA nearly 8 percent to 0 million.
“Our second quarter results clearly benefited from a larger scale and diversified property portfolio, as well as our focus on margins which is helping us drive better flow-through of revenue,” said COO Anthony Carano.
In highlighting that diversification he noted no single market accounted for more than 15 percent of EBITDA.
The $1.7 billion Isle acquisition, which was completed in May, has transformed Eldorado from a Nevada-centric operation into a regional gaming giant comprised of 19 casinos in 10 states, 20,000 slot machines and video lottery terminals, 550 table games and 6,500 hotel rooms.
Region by region, net revenues in the West were down nearly 6 percent to $109.4 million while operating income and adjusted EBITDA remained flat?results the company attributed to a challenging year-over-year comparison in the Reno market. Revenues were up 1.5 percent to $103.8 million in the Midwest with adjusted EBITDA up 9.7 percent on improved margins. The South region was adversely impacted by flooding, which led to quarterly declines in both revenues and EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA was up 11 percent in the East region to $26.6 million despite a modest revenue decline.
“Our expanded scale is delivering the expected benefit in free cash flow as we paid down $39.5 million of debt in the second quarter,” said CFO Tom Reeg. “Our priority continues to be to deploy free cash flow to reduce leverage which should position us to pursue future growth opportunities.”
As of June 30, Eldorado had $103.6 million in cash against total debt of $2.3 billion.
