Isle of Capri Casinos: business remains unpredictable
During a midday conference call, executives of casino operator Isle of Capri Casinos (Nasdaq: ISLE) said the company is still recovering from hurricanes, and that business remains unpredictable.
“Due to the continuing lack of predictability of our operating results in several of our properties caused by changing competitive landscapes and the ramping up of several new properties, we are not giving guidance at this time,” executive vice president Allan Solomon said during the call.
After Thursday’s closing bell, Isle of Capri said its first-quarter loss was $7.1 million, or $0.23 a share, below Wall Street expectations of earnings of $0.04 a share and below a profit of $5.3 million, or $0.17 a share, in the year-ago period. The firm’s revenue for the period ended July 29 was $278.5 million, below analyst projections of $301.4 million but above revenue of $274 million in the same quarter of fiscal 2006.
Total operating and other expenses during the quarter increased to $260.5 million, from $242.6 million a year earlier.
The firm’s Biloxi, Miss., casino saw quarterly revenue decrease to $26.8 million, from $52.9 million a year earlier. The reopening of a competitor’s casinos after hurricane damage has negatively impacted the Biloxi casino and Isle of Capri has to spend additional marketing dollars in order to drive business, Bob Griffin, senior vice president of operations, said on the call. The closing of a nearby bridge also impeded revenue, but Griffin said two lanes of the bridge will be reopened in mid-November.
Griffin said revenues at the company’s Florida casino will likely be better during the third and fourth quarters, when more target customers reside in the area. Isle of Capri has also started offering entertainment, including a Rolling Stones tribute band that generated the second-highest day sales at the location.
Corporate expenses for the remaining three quarters of the fiscal year will be in the range of $9 million to $10 million per quarter, Solomon said, compared with $9.5 million in the most recent quarter.
Capital expenditures will cost approximately $435 million for fiscal 2008 ending in late April, compared with $451.4 million in fiscal 2007, Solomon said.
In midday trading, shares of the small cap are up 1.10%, or $0.20, at $18.38. Over the last 52 weeks, shares have ranged from $17.27 to $31.82.
