Century Casinos Posts 239% Increase in Earnings From Operations
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Century Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ Capital Market and the Vienna Stock Exchange: CNTY) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2007.
Fourth Quarter 2007 For the fourth quarter of 2007, net operating revenue was $23,196,000 and consolidated Adjusted EBITDA* was $5,189,000. This represents a 29% increase in net operating revenue over the same quarter of last year ($17,972,000 in the fourth quarter of 2006) and a 74% increase in consolidated Adjusted EBITDA* ($2,980,000 in the fourth quarter of 2006).
The Company reported net earnings of $401,000, or $0.02 per basic share for the quarter ended December 31, 2007. Net earnings for the 2006 fourth quarter were $2,757,000, or $0.12 per basic share. The 2007 fourth quarter reflects increases in depreciation charges, primarily related to the opening of the three new casinos in 2006. In addition, stock-based compensation expense increased $328,000 primarily due to the issuance of stock options and restricted stock in July 2007. The Company also recorded a $1,000,000 charge ($620,000, net of taxes) in the fourth quarter of 2007 related to the purchase of a loan held by our former minority partner in Central City, Colorado. The 2006 pre-tax results for the fourth quarter include pre-opening expenses of $1,848,000 ($1,418,000, net of taxes) and income of $5,231,000 ($5,074,000, net of taxes) resulting from the sale of our interest in a casino project located in South Africa. Year Ended December 31, 2007 For the year ended December 31, 2007, net operating revenue was $91,654,000 and consolidated Adjusted EBITDA* was $21,052,000. This represents a 63% increase in net operating revenue over the same period of last year ($56,285,000 for the year ended December 31, 2006) and a 67% increase in consolidated Adjusted EBITDA* ($12,641,000 for the year ended December 31, 2006). The Company reported net earnings of $4,933,000, or $0.21 per basic share for the year ended December 31, 2007. The 2007 results reflect increases in depreciation charges and net interest charges, primarily related to the opening and financing of three new casinos in 2006. Net earnings for the year ended December 31, 2006 were $7,629,000, or $0.33 per basic share. The 2006 pre-tax results include $3,964,000 ($3,160,000, net of taxes) in pre-opening expenses and income of $5,231,000 ($5,074,000, net of taxes) resulting from the sale of our interest in a casino project located in South Africa. "We are pleased with the progress we have made in the growth of our company," said Co CEOs Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger. "The first full year of operations at our three new casinos had a positive impact to the Company's adjusted EBITDA." Developments -- The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission added 50 slot machines during
Womacks Casino (Cripple Creek, Colorado, USA) -- Net operating revenue at Womacks Casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado decreased 16% to $3,212,000 for the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to $3,721,000 for the same period in 2006. Womacks' Adjusted EBITDA* for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $635,000 compared to $1,157,000 in the fourth quarter of 2006. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA* is primarily due to the decline in revenue, which management believes was a result of the above mentioned renovation. Womacks' net operating revenue was $16,722,000 for the year ended December 31, 2007 compared to $16,255,000 for the year ended December 31, 2006. Womacks' Adjusted EBITDA* for the year ended December 31, 2007 was $5,439,000 compared to $6,104,000 in the same 2006 period. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA* is primarily due to $325,000 in increased marketing charges primarily related to a special marketing promotion in the third quarter of 2007. Century Casino and Hotel (Central City, Colorado, USA) -- Net operating revenue at the Century Casino and Hotel increased 23% to $4,845,000 for the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to $3,929,000 reported for the same period in 2006. Adjusted EBITDA* for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $1,020,000 compared to $416,000 in the fourth quarter of 2006. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA* is primarily due to improved revenue. Net operating revenue for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 increased due to an improved floor layout and gaming machine mix. The Century Casino and Hotel's net operating revenue was $20,374,000 for the year ended December 31, 2007 compared to $8,617,000 for the year ended December 31, 2006. The property commenced operations in July 2006. The Century Casino and Hotel's Adjusted EBITDA* for the year ended December 31, 2007 was $4,922,000 compared to $1,245,000 in the same 2006 period. Adjusted EBITDA* for the year ended December 31, 2006 excludes approximately $1,726,000 of pre-opening expenditures. As of December 31, 2007, the Company owns 100% of CC Tollgate LLC. The Caledon Hotel, Spa and Casino (Caledon, South Africa) -- Net operating revenue at the Caledon increased 7% to $4,815,000 for the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to $4,511,000 reported for the same period in 2006. Net operating revenue in South African Rand ("Rand") was ZAR 32,624,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 compared to ZAR 33,810,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2006. Adjusted EBITDA* for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $1,763,000 compared to $2,002,000 in the fourth quarter of 2006. The decline in Adjusted EBITDA* is primarily due to increased marketing costs aimed at strengthening casino revenue and general escalations in overhead costs during the quarter. The Caledon's net operating revenue was $18,139,000 for the year ended December 31, 2007 compared to $18,294,000 for the year ended December 31, 2006. The decrease was due to the weakening of the Rand versus the US Dollar on a year over year basis. Net operating revenue in Rand was ZAR 127,837,000 for the year ended December 31, 2007 compared to ZAR 123,509,000 for the year ended December 31, 2006. The Caledon's Adjusted EBITDA* for the year ended December 31, 2007 was $7,080,000 compared to $7,633,000 in the same 2006 period. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA* is primarily due to the weakening of the Rand versus the US Dollar on a year to date basis and the payment of an additional $138,000 (as compared to the year ended December 31, 2006) in dividends to preference shareholders. Century Casino and Hotel (Newcastle, South Africa) -- Net operating revenue increased 52% to $3,400,000 for the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to $2,235,000 reported for the same period in 2006. Newcastle's Adjusted EBITDA* for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $1,316,000 compared to $874,000 for the fourth quarter of 2006. We opened a new casino facility in December 2006. Prior to this date, casino operations were held in a temporary facility. Management believes that the increases in net operating revenue and Adjusted EBITDA* are directly related to the opening of our new facility, which management believes is superior to the old facility. Adjusted EBITDA* for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 excludes approximately $323,000 of pre-opening expenditures. We acquired a 60% ownership interest in Newcastle, South Africa, on April 1, 2006. For the year ended December 31, 2007, Newcastle's net operating revenue was $11,995,000 compared to $6,176,000 for the year ended December 31, 2006. The casino provided the Company with Adjusted EBITDA* of $4,072,000 for the year ended December 31, 2007 compared to Adjusted EBITDA* of $2,166,000 for the year ended December 31, 2006. Other Operations -- The Company's other operations, which include the Century Casino Millennium in Prague and the Company's ship-based casinos, contributed net operating revenue of $1,181,000 and Adjusted EBITDA* of $34,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 compared to net operating revenue of $1,249,000 and Adjusted EBITDA* of $205,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2006. These operations contributed net operating revenue of $5,069,000 and $4,601,000 for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively and contributed Adjusted EBITDA* of $513,000 and $911,000 for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively. The decline in Adjusted EBITDA* is primarily due to the reduction in the number of ship-based casinos and the write-off of costs associated with a contract that the Company decided not to pursue. Corporate -- Corporate operations reported negative Adjusted EBITDA* of $1,601,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 compared to negative Adjusted EBITDA* of $2,294,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2006. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA* is due to the recognition of $472,000 of equity earnings from our investment in Casinos Poland and foreign currency gains of $206,000. We acquired a 33.3% interest in Casinos Poland in March 2007. Corporate general and administrative expenses, excluding stock compensation expenses were $2,287,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 compared to $2,296,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2006. Corporate operations reported negative Adjusted EBITDA* of $6,647,000 for the year ended December 31, 2007 compared to negative Adjusted EBITDA* of $6,038,000 for the year ended December 31, 2006. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA* is primarily due to an increase in general and administrative expenses of $1,770,000 relating to travel expenses, professional fees and insurance charges, offset by the recognition of $563,000 of equity earnings from our investment in Casinos Poland and foreign currency gains of $557,000. Corporate general and administrative expenses, excluding stock compensation expenses were $8,188,000 for the year ended December 31, 2007 compared to $6,418,000 for the year ended December 31, 2006. The Company will post a slide show presentation of the results of operations for the fourth quarter of 2007 on its web site at http://www.cnty.com/corporate/investor/presentations/ on Monday, March 17, 2008. On Tuesday, March 18, 2008, Century Casinos will host a "Q4 2007 Earnings" conference call, at 11:00am EDT; 4:00pm CET respectively. US domestic participants please dial +1-800-894-5910, all other international participants please use +1-785-424-1052 to dial-in. For a recording of the call, please visit our website at http://www.cnty.com/corporate/investor/financial-results/. * See discussion and reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA below CENTURY CASINOS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Century Casinos, Inc. For the Three Months For the Year Ended Operating Costs and Expenses: Non-Operating Income Earnings Per Share: Weighted Average Shares
Century Casinos, Inc. December 31, December 31, Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity CENTURY CASINOS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Century Casinos, Inc. For the Three Months For the Year Ended Century Casino & Hotel, Century Casinos, Inc. For the Three Months For the Year CENTURY CASINOS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Century Casinos, Inc. Cripple Net Earnings $866 $129 $(733) $823
Net Earnings $471 $(128) $(1027) $401 Century Casinos, Inc. Cripple Net Earnings $(893) $428 $(371) $944
Net Earnings $339 $(238) $2,548 $2,757 CENTURY CASINOS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Century Casinos, Inc. Edmonton Cripple Creek Central City Caledon Net Earnings $2,004 $2,384 $(426) $3,378
Net Earnings $1,329 $(22) $(3,714) $4,933 Century Casinos, Inc. Edmonton Cripple Creek Central City Caledon Net Earnings $(1,156) $2,563 $(1,026) $3,816
Net Earnings $906 $192 $2,334 $7,629 CENTURY CASINOS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES * The Company defines Adjusted EBITDA as earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, minority interest, pre-opening expenses, non-cash stock based compensation charges, asset impairment costs, gains (losses) on disposition of fixed assets, discontinued operations and certain other one-time items. Inter-company transactions consisting primarily of management fees and interest, along with their related tax effects, are excluded from the presentation of net earnings and Adjusted EBITDA reported for each property. These adjustments have no effect on the consolidated results. Adjusted EBITDA is not considered a measure of performance recognized under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA is a valuable measure of the relative performance among its operating segments. The gaming industry commonly uses Adjusted EBITDA as a method of arriving at the economic value of a casino operation. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA to compare the relative operating performance of separate operating units by eliminating the above mentioned items associated with the varying levels of capital expenditures for infrastructure required to generate revenue, and the often high cost of acquiring existing operations. EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is used by our lending institutions to gauge operating performance. The Company's computation of Adjusted EBITDA may be different from, and therefore may not be comparable to, similar measures used by other companies. Not all of the aforementioned benefits and costs occur in each reporting period, but have been included in the definition based on historic activity. ** We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by net operating revenue. Management uses this margin as one of several measures to evaluate the efficiency of our casino operations.
About Century Casinos, Inc: Century Casinos, Inc. is an international casino entertainment company that owns and operates the Womacks Casino and Hotel in Cripple Creek, Colorado, the Century Casino & Hotel in Central City, Colorado, the Century Casino & Hotel in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and the Century Casino Millennium in the Marriott Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic. The Company also operates casinos aboard the Silver Cloud, The World of ResidenSea, and the vessels of Oceania Cruises. Through its subsidiary Century Casinos Africa (Pty) Limited, it owns and operates The Caledon Hotel, Spa & Casino near Cape Town, South Africa, as well as 60% of, and provides technical casino services to, Century Casino Newcastle, in Newcastle, South Africa. Furthermore, the Company's Austrian subsidiary, Century Casinos Europe GmbH, holds a 33.3% ownership interest in Casinos Poland Ltd, the owner and operator of seven full casinos and one slot casino in Poland. The Company continues to pursue other international projects in various stages of development. For more information about Century Casinos, visit our new website at http://www.centurycasinos.com/. Century Casinos' common stock trades on The NASDAQ Capital Market(R) and the Vienna Stock Exchange under the symbol CNTY. This release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of the management of Century Casinos based on information currently available to management. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding revenue growth, marketing efforts, progress at our casinos, gaming market growth, the impact of improvements at our properties and the impact of the Colorado law banning smoking in casinos. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, among others, the risks described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" under Item 1A in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 17, 2008. Century Casinos disclaims any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by it or on its behalf. First Call Analyst:
CONTACT: Peter Hoetzinger, Co CEO & President, +1-719-689-5813, Web site: http://www.centurycasinos.com/
2008-03-17 17:33:02 0314390 PRNEWSWIRE
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