Casinos' slots revenue was down in January
Southeastern Connecticut’s casinos got off to a slow start this year, with both reporting Thursday that their January slot-machine revenues were down over the same month a year ago.
Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun also have posted financial results for the three-month period that ended Dec. 31, 2017 — the first quarter of their 2018 fiscal years.
Figures filed with the state Department of Consumer Protection's Gaming Division show Foxwoods kept $33.9 million in slots “win” after paying out prizes last month, a 2.5 percent decrease over the $34.8 million the Mashantucket Pequot-owned casino kept during the same month a year earlier. Foxwoods had posted five straight months of year-over-year gains, dating to August.
Mohegan Sun, owned by the Mohegan Tribe, kept $44.9 million in slots revenue last month, 5.3 percent less than it kept in January 2017.
Mohegan Sun paid $11.2 million of its monthly slots win to the state, while Foxwoods contributed $8.5 million to Connecticut’s coffers.
In a report posted late last week on the website of the Electronic Municipal Markets Access system, Foxwoods disclosed that its net revenues for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 totaled $205.8 million, a 1 percent increase over the same quarter a year earlier. By another measure, EBITDA, which Foxwoods defines as net income minus certain nonrecurring expenses plus interest charges, federal and state taxes, depreciation, amortization and other noncash expenses, was $28.2 million for the quarter, which was $3.4 million or 10.6 percent lower than the previous year.
The drop in EBITDA was attributed to a $5.3 million increase in operating expenses, which partially was offset by the increase in net revenues.
Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, Mohegan Sun’s parent, posted its quarterly report Wednesday morning on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s website, having disclosed highlights of the report in a Feb. 1 conference call with gaming-industry analysts. Mohegan Sun’s net revenues for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 totaled $262.9 million, a 1.4 percent increase over the same period the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA, a measure MGE defines as earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, reflected a 12.8 percent increase.
Foxwoods’ quarterly report indicated the casino’s payroll costs for the three-month period were $2.4 million, or 3.1 percent, lower than the year before. The number of “FTEs,” or full-time equivalent employees, was about 4,750 during the quarter, 3.3 percent less than the previous year, according to the report.
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