Locals market slower to rebound than Strip
In a third-quarter earnings call last week, Nevada-based Station Casinos LLC posted revenue of $324.2 million, up 2.4 percent from the second quarter of 2013. Earnings came in at $55.4 million compared to $7.3 million last year. The spike in earnings can be attributed in part to the new Graton Resort & Casino in Northern California, which opened in the San Francisco Bay area in the second half of last year.
Including Fertitta Interactive, adjusted earnings for the company were $101.9 million, a 6 percent increase from last year, according to Vegasinc.com. Station’s Chief Financial Officer Mark Falcone acknowledged to analysts in a conference call that online gaming has gotten off to a slow start. And though hotel revenue increased, food and beverage revenue was down slightly. The company attributed that mostly to renovations that closed some Red Rock and Green Valley restaurants.
And while business on the Strip has been improving, Falcone said, the locals market has been slower to revive.
“The big picture is that the economic indicators are better,” he said. “Visits are stable, but customers are hesitant to spend,” Falcone said. “We’re still not seeing the levels of discretionary income we saw in the past.
“We’re still kind of the tale of two cities,” he said.
