After several years of bad profit news the Mohegan Sun may have turned the corner with an easing of debt and a new 400-room hotel poised to open in a year according to profits posted in the third quarter.
Robert J. Soper, president of the tribal development authority, gives the credit to cost cutting and fewer expenses. Now the casino is ready to begin revenue growing, he said last week.
“We have a lot of positive momentum,” Robert J. Soper, the authority’s president, said. “Profits are increasing, debt has been declining. We are in a growth mode.” The most recent quarterly report showed that profits were $27.7 million, compared to $13.8 million for 2014.
Any expansion will be in non-gaming, says Soper. The $120 million Earth Hotel will expand the resort’s other amenities. At the same time the casino will continue to pay down its debt, he said.
He told financial analysts, “We’ve proven we can manage costs and market effectively in tough markets without chasing business and this is evident also in our bottom line.”
The cost savings were achieved without layoffs, although natural attrition was allowed. The authority employs 7,000 workers in Connecticut and 3,000 at its Mohegan Sun Pocono in Pennsylvania.
Slot revenues in June seem to have finally rebounded for both the Mohegan Sun and its rival Foxwoods Resort Casino.
