A strong performance from the Las Vegas locals market powered Boyd Gaming through softness in some regional markets, notably in Louisiana, and delivered 1.2 million in pre-tax earnings for the second quarter.
CEO Keith Smith pronounced the Las Vegas results the best in nearly 10 years.
“Our three newly acquired Nevada properties delivered another great quarter as well, as we continued to successfully execute on growth and synergy opportunities.”
Corporate-wide EBITDA fell three percentage points shy of analysts’ expectations but was up year on year nearly 10 percent on a 10 percent increase in net revenues to $599.9 million. Net income grew from $30 million to $48.6 million, up from 10 cents a share (NYSE: BYD) to 24 cents a share.
Revenues in Las Vegas were the driver. With the addition of Aliante, Cannery and Eastside Cannery in the portfolio they grew year on year from $154.9 million to $214.2 million and adjusted EBITDA from $43.2 million to $63.1 million.
Downtown, in contrast, saw EBITDA dip from $14.3 million to $12.6 million on relatively flat revenues of $59.6 million. The company attributed this numbers to unanticipated construction disruption at the California Hotel, a popular mainstay of Boyd’s Hawaii market.
Revenues from Midwest and South regions were down from $330.7 million to $326.1 million and EBITDA from $94.7 million to $93.7 million, respectively, mainly due to sluggish performances in Louisiana.
“As we’ve seen for some time, localized economic weakness continues to affect Amelia Belle and Evangeline Downs,” Smith said. “These communities are dependent on the oil production industry and the persistent weakness in oil prices is having a significant impact on our customer base at those properties.”
Despite this Boyd said it is not altering its previously issued full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance of $585 million to $605 million and is committed to returning cash to shareholders for the first time in nearly a decade.
The company bought back 600,000 shares of stock during the quarter and declared a 5-cent dividend.
