CNTY Century Casinos Inc

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Aug. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Century Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ Capital Market® and Vienna Stock Exchange: CNTY) today announced its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011.

Second Quarter 2011 Highlights

• Net operating revenue was $18.0 million, a 21% increase compared to the three months ended June 30, 2010.
• Adjusted EBITDA* was $2.8 million, a 38% increase from the three months ended June 30, 2010.
• Net earnings per share was $0.03 compared to a net loss of $0.01 for the three months ended June 30, 2010.

"We are very pleased with our performance for the second quarter, especially when considering that each of our operations posted increases in revenue as well as Adjusted EBITDA and overall earnings from operations almost tripled," said Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Century Casinos. "Initial results for the first half of the third quarter indicate further improvement," they continued.

Second Quarter and Six Month 2011 Results

Net operating revenue increased by $3.1 million or 21% and $6.0 million or 21% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively, due to increased revenue from all properties. The increase in net operating revenue at our Canadian properties is due in part to higher customer volumes and an increase in the average exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar of 5.8% and 5.6% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively.

The increase in net operating revenue at our Central City property is due in part to increased table games revenue generated from craps and player banked poker, increased customer volumes, increased revenue from slot machines that were moved from the lower level to the main level and increased video poker play. The increase in net operating revenue at our Cripple Creek property is due in part to increased slot revenue from new slot machines, additional table games revenue generated after moving the table games pit from the back of the casino to the front, improved customer service and new marketing strategies aimed at improving the gaming floor atmosphere and differentiating our casino from competitors.

The increase in net operating revenue from our ship-based casinos and other is primarily due to additional ship-based casinos placed into operation during the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 as compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010.

Total operating costs and expenses increased by $2.7 million or 18% and $5.1 million or 18% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively, due to increased operating costs at all of our properties. Total operating costs and expenses at our property in Edmonton increased primarily due to the increase in the average exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar of 5.8% and 5.6% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively.

Total operating costs and expenses at our property in Calgary increased due to the addition of a player's club point redemption program and additional staffing costs incurred in order to provide improved customer service for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010. The increase is also attributable to an increase in the average exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar of 5.8% and 5.6% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively.

Total operating costs and expenses at our Colorado properties increased due to increased marketing costs from more aggressive marketing campaigns, increased gaming taxes as a result of higher gaming revenue and increased staffing costs in order to provide improved customer service for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010.

Total operating costs and expenses from our ship-based casinos increased for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 as a result of increased concession and annual fees paid to cruise ship operators for the ability to operate ship-based casinos.

Net earnings increased by $0.9 million and $1.1 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively. The increase is due to increased earnings from operations at our Edmonton, Central City and Cripple Creek properties offset by losses from operations at our Calgary property. In addition, the increase in the average exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar of 5.8% and 5.6% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively, contributed to the increase in net earnings.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

As of June 30, 2011, the Company had $19.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and $10.8 million in debt obligations on its balance sheet compared to $21.5 million in cash and cash equivalents and $13.5 million in debt obligations at December 31, 2010.  

Conference Call Information

Today the Company will post a copy of the Form 10-Q filed with the SEC for the second quarter of 2011 on its website at http://corporate.cnty.com/investor-relations/sec-filings/.

Century Casinos will host its second quarter 2011 earnings conference call today at 10:00 am MDT; 6:00 pm CET, respectively. U.S. domestic participants should dial 1-800-862-9098. For all other international participants please use +1-785-424-1051 to dial in. Participants may also listen to the call live or obtain a recording of the call on the Company's website at http://corporate.cnty.com/investor-relations/financial-results/.

*See discussion and reconciliation of Non-GAAP financial measures in Supplemental Information below.

*  The Company defines Adjusted EBITDA as earnings (loss) before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, pre-opening expenses, non-cash stock based compensation charges, asset impairment costs, gains (losses) on disposition of fixed assets, discontinued operations, realized foreign currency gains (losses) and certain other one-time items. Intercompany transactions consisting primarily of management and royalty fees and interest, along with their related tax effects, are excluded from the presentation of net earnings and Adjusted EBITDA reported for each property. Not all of the aforementioned items occur in each reporting period, but have been included in the definition based on historical activity. 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 of its properties and the Company. 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 the Company's lending institution 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. Please see the reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to earnings (loss) from continuing operations above.

**  The Company defines 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 the Company's casino operations.

About Century Casinos, Inc.:

Century Casinos, Inc. is an international casino entertainment company that owns and operates Century Casino & Hotels in Cripple Creek and Central City, Colorado, and in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and the Century Casino in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Company also operates casinos aboard twelve luxury cruise vessels (Regatta, Insignia, Nautica, Marina, Mein Schiff 1, Mein Schiff 2, Wind Surf, Wind Star, Wind Spirit, Seven Seas Voyager, Seven Seas Mariner and Seven Seas Navigator) and signed a contract for an additional casino on board Oceania Cruises' Riviera that is expected to start operations in 2012. Through its Austrian subsidiary, Century Casinos Europe GmbH, the Company holds a 33.3% ownership interest in Casinos Poland Ltd., the owner and operator of seven full casinos in Poland. The Company also manages the casino at the Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa in Aruba, Caribbean. Century Casinos, Inc. continues to pursue other international projects in various stages of development.

For more information about Century Casinos, visit our website at www.centurycasinos.com. Century Casinos' common stock trades on The NASDAQ Capital Market® 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, future results of operations for the third quarter of 2011 and other periods, expected competition, the impact of new gaming laws and plans for our 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 sections entitled "Risk Factors" under Item 1A in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010. 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.

SOURCE Century Casinos, Inc.