Revenues were down in first quarter of Foxwoods' 2017 fiscal year
Mashantucket — Foxwoods Resort Casino has reported declines in revenue for the three-month period that ended Dec. 31, the first quarter of its 2017 fiscal year.
Gaming revenues totaled $170.1 million for the quarter, a 4.9 percent decrease over the same three months the previous year. Nongaming revenues of $53.1 million were down 6.8 percent. Net revenues declined by $8.9 million, or 4.2 percent, an amount partially offset by a reduction in operating expenses.
The casino posted its quarterly report this week on the website of the Electronic Municipal Markets Access system.
Foxwoods’ EBITDA, an earnings measure favored by casino management and investors who analyze gaming enterprises, was $31.5 million for the quarter, a decrease of 6.2 percent. Foxwoods defines EBITDA as net income, or profit, minus certain non-recurring expenses plus interest charges, federal and state taxes, depreciation, amortization and other non-cash expenses.
The first-quarter revenue declines follow a 1.5 percent increase in Foxwoods’ net revenues for fiscal 2016, which ended Sept. 30.
Foxwoods reported that its quarterly payroll costs were up by $2 million, an increase it said was primarily driven by higher benefits costs. The casino’s workforce consisted of about 4,900 “full-time equivalents,” or FTEs, about 1.7 percent less than the same quarter the year before.
A breakdown of gaming revenue shows slot machines were down $5.9 million, or 5.2 percent, in the quarter while table games were down $2.5 million, or 4.5 percent. Poker revenue declined $375,000, or 6.4 percent.
Gaming accounted for 76.2 percent of the casino's total revenue.
“It should be noted,” the report says, “that in early October we began the first phase of our Great Cedar gaming floor remodel.”
Construction related to that project temporarily removed from service about 550 slot machines and 24 table games. The area was re-opened to the public on Dec. 16.
As of Dec. 31, Foxwoods was operating about 4,400 slot machines and 250 table games.
“Going forward, the remaining remodel in this area will be done in four smaller phases in an effort to mitigate the guest and volume disruption,” the report says. “It is our plan to complete the entire remodel by the late spring of fiscal 2017.”
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which owns Foxwoods, struck a forbearance agreement with senior lenders in September 2014, soon after the tribe violated the terms of a 2013 debt-restructuring. That agreement has been extended several times, most recently through Dec. 31, 2017.
The tribe defaulted on its long-term debt in 2009.
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