Casino operator Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE) saw its Q4 revenue jump by one-quarter thanks to its new Canadian contract and its Pennsylvania sports betting and online gambling operations.
Figures released this week show MGE’s net revenue hitting $399m in the final three months of 2019, up 24.9% year-on-year. Earnings rose a more modest 4.5% to $75m as margins fell 3.7 points to 18.8%.
The bulk of the revenue gain came via MGE Niagara Resorts, the casino operations on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls owned by the Ontario provincial government and for which MGE won the management contract in September 2018 (but only started running last summer).
These operations added revenue of $85m and earnings of $3.8m to MGE’s Q4 results, although MGE said earnings would have been $6m higher were it not for a lower than expected table games hold. The results were also impacted by “especially challenging weather.” Sure, blame Canada.
MGE’s flagship Mohegan Sun casino in its home state of Connecticut remains the company’s top earner with revenue of $243.3m in Q4, although this was down 3.7% year-on-year. MGE blamed last summer’s opening of Wynn Resorts’ Encore Boston Harbor in neighboring Massachusetts for much of the decline.
In Pennsylvania, the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino’s revenue nudged up 1.9% to just under $62m, with $1.1m of that coming via new sports betting and online casino operations (the latter having launched on November 12). The property’s retail sportsbook was credited with driving gains in both table games and food & beverage sales, similar to complementary claims made by other casino operators.
In Washington state, MGE’s deal to manage gaming operations at the Ilani Resort Casino helped the company’s ‘management, development & other’ segment boost revenue 57.8% to $9m.
MGE’s attention has strayed far beyond its original northeast confines, with the company and Virgin Hotels officially starting renovation this week of the future Virgins Hotels Las Vegas ahead of the property’s grand re-opening later this year.
Even further abroad, MGE said construction of its Inspire Korea integrated resort at South Korea’s Incheon International Airport was “progressing on-time and on-budget.” The resort is scheduled to open its first phase in June 2022.
MGE’s results made little mention of its recent victory over its tribal gaming rival Hard Rock International (HRI) for the sole casino license at Greece’s massive Hellinikon integrated resort project. Possibly because this week saw HRI file its formal protest of the decision to award the Hellinikon license to MGE based on HRI’s view that the decision was “improperly determined.”
