In preparation for PNK's 2Q earnings release tomorrow, we’ve put together the recent pertinent forward looking company commentary.

1Q CONFERENCE CALL YOUTUBE

  • "We expect to open, in full, L'Auberge Baton Rouge late August this summer."
  • "Our revenue per admission continues to grow across the portfolio and we remain extremely disciplined about how and when we spend resources in managing the business."
  • "It is our belief that there is material upside to our margins in 2012 and in future years."
  • [River Downs]  "We expect to begin work at some point this summer.... our ability to get a project off the ground this year and having that first phase that may open as early by the end of next year it's pretty high."
  • "At Ho Tram in Vietnam, the project is on track for an opening by the end of the first quarter of 2013."
  • [Retama] "Our total investment will be about $23 million of which $10 million has already been deployed. We expect the second phase of the transaction and remaining investment to close in the second half of 2012. Retama lost about $1.5 million last year on an EBITDA basis but we expect to improve this once we manage through operations and integrate the property into our portfolio. Obviously, should there be an expansion of gaming at racetracks in Texas – we will manage that operation as well."
  • [River City construction impact] "As the temperatures climb in the summer and that walk from further away gets to be more troublesome for folks, we may see a deeper impact. Our point here was that in the first quarter, we didn't see much of an impact at all out of that additional walk. So we'll see how things go as the summer progresses. We do expect the garage to be operational by the end of the year. So hopefully before the snow and winter come at the end of the year, we'll have that garage operational. So once that garage is finished, we will then break ground and build that hotel. And we believe we can have that hotel done by the end of 2013."
  • "The Houston market continues to be under penetrated and that's been our position for a long time. I think that market has been mostly capacity constraint and that's why it hasn't grown more. We have been focusing on trying to drive profitable revenue, so our top line has been driven mostly by adjustments that we've made both in marketing as well as some of the property improvements that came in and have been operational throughout the first quarter."
  • [New Orleans property] "It's something that's on all of our mind on a regular basis that we have seen declining revenues there. It's a variety of things, including competitive pressures in that market. We've pointed out that especially on the West Bank, there's a change because of what happened with the Deep Horizon disaster a couple of years ago. I don't want to use that as an excuse. We... can compete better than we are in that market, and we're focused on doing that through specific program changes at that property."
  • "We have spent considerable time putting together a marketing plan that will launch in the summer. It will be focused at the gaming customers, both in Baton Rouge and in the regional markets, and will also, of course, be communicated aggressively to Pinnacle customers who reside in Louisiana."
  • [1Q corp expense as run rate] "So, I think that is for purposes of your model, certainly a reasonable run rate."
  • [Loss from Vietnam investment] "We do expect it to ramp up as the year progresses. And, obviously, there is an expectation that this will turn profitable in 2013 following that opening."
  • [Baton Rouge opening] "I think you can expect to see that there will be a ramp-up. There will be some awareness that will need to occur in the first couple of quarters. I do think because of the shared services that we've put together and the investment we've made in our pre-opening team. We brought people on much earlier than what people would typically do to open up a property. I would expect if you were just to look at what normally happens in a market that this will be above that curve but you should expect that there will be a ramp-up for the first couple of quarters."
  • [AC discontinued ops]  "As it relates to the process itself, it's underway, it's early in that process."