Casinos' quarterly results show they're recovering from pandemic
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Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment announced Tuesday what it described as “strong results” for the quarter that ended June 30, a sign, it said, of its further recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
MGE, which develops, owns and manages gaming and entertainment resorts across the United States and internationally, posted net revenues of $328.2 million in the quarter, more than tripling its net revenues in the same period the previous year, which was marked by coronavirus-induced shutdowns.
In April, May and June 2020, MGE posted $107.2 million in net revenues.
A more useful comparison, that of the most recent quarter to the same quarter two years ago, shows MGE’s net revenues were down 5.6%. Net revenues in the 2019 quarter were $347.6 million.
Mohegan Sun, MGE’s flagship casino, posted net revenues of $220.1 million in the latest quarter, up 181% from $78.2 million in the same quarter last year and down 12% from $251.0 million in the same quarter two years ago. The casino was shuttered for two months in the 2020 quarter.
Foxwoods Resort Casino’s quarterly results, posted on the website of the Electronic Municipal Market Access system, show the Mashantucket Pequot-owned casino had $156.9 million in net revenues, a 182% increase over the $55.7 million in net revenues it had the same quarter the previous year. Net revenues in the latest quarter were down 19% compared to the same quarter two years ago.
Ray Pineault, who in May was elevated to MGE president and chief executive officer, noted during a conference call with investors that MGE founded Mohegan Digital during the latest quarter. The new division will oversee the introduction of sports betting and online gaming, which are expected to provide new revenue streams “and contribute to the financial stability of MGE,” he said.
Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are awaiting final approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs to launch sports betting and online gaming.
Outside of Connecticut, the MGE-managed ilani Casino Resort in Washington state continued to outperform expectations during the quarter, while Mohegan Sun Pocono in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Mohegan Sun Las Vegas and Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., “are generating positive results,” reported Carol Anderson, MGE’s chief financial officer.
On the international front, MGE’s two casinos in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, remained closed throughout the quarter due to the pandemic but reopened to the public July 23. Efforts to secure final financing for the integrated resort MGE is developing in Incheon, South Korea, are progressing, Pineault said, and it’s hoped that construction, stalled amid the pandemic, will resume by the end of the year.
