Trending along the bottom, not worse but not significantly better...but that's a directional improvement.
CONF CALL
Prepared Comments
- Balancing act - operating efficiency while improving guest experience.
- Top line remains challenged
- Focused on operational efficiencies
- Change in culture - challenges of regional gaming...
- Creating value for customers and stakeholders
- Margins: 4Q margins up 90 bps
Balance Sheet:
Corporate Line of Credit $64m outstanding
Leverage 6.2x for covenant purposes
Retired $90m of debt, leverage down 0.25x
Capacity $184 million
2015 Guidance
D&A: $80-$82 million
Int Exp: $83-$85 million
Maintenance capex $47-50 million
Q & A
- New Golden Nugget in Lake Charles - Formulated battle plan for marketing, staffing, etc.
- Blackhawk and Monarch expansion - expect Monarch to create more foot traffic for pod 1. Ameristar promoting/marketing new car give away, challenge to market share battle.
- ISLE formal plan to go land based in Bettendorf - what is incremental capex and how to fund it? Going through application process with City, still finalizing scope of project. Could fund with capacity on revolver.
- Additional development plans at Pompano? Looking at Pompano, a lot of options, but until better understanding of how Florida may develop for gaming simply wait.
- Pompano results driven by higher slot play and higher F&B. Changes to slot reconfiguration to slot floor, especially high limit. Big focus on customer service
- What is meant by new reality in regional gaming? Continuous top line pressure because traditional customer is under pressure and consumer spending is not rebounding.
- Pennsylvania Control Board having trouble reaching consensus regarding 2nd Philadelphia gaming license.
- Leverage target: 5x or less within a couple of years...
- Fan Club - revenue benefits, especially for Tier 1 customers? Fan Club 2.0 launched end of January, still have 11 properties where yet to be rolled out.
- Cost savings now $3 million in the quarter, so $12 million annualized vs. $10 million annual goal. Hit the big opportunities, now in the weeds looking for next phase. Next round will be smaller saves.
- Web-site: new Pompano site live today, rest of portfolio next month.
- May improvement - weather, pent up demand? Delta between where were in January, February, March was different than recent. But May did not see a huge swing in trends to the upside (but not eroding further).
- June any changes? Things haven't change for quite a while for the industry.
- Lake Charles - Sasol plans - where will property be located? Core market should increase visitation and local employment.
- Gaming mix - slot/table ratio, any opportunity to change/improve? Slots still 90%+ on GGR basis. Still seeing weakness on slot play because the <$100 theoretical customer just not playing as much.
- CO December ballot initiative - still polling, testing. Location needs to be determined first, then quantify negative impact/cannibalization to Blackhawk.
- Pennsylvania: spent $60 million but earning $4 million vs. prior expectation of closer to $8-9 million. Operating under restrictive daily/annual access plan, customers have other options without access fee as well as new competition. Seeking legislative/financial relief. Surprised how resistant customers were/are to paying daily/annual access fee despite knowing ISLE would have to charge customers to visit.
- Asset sales - interest in selling one-off or portfolio to deliver? Always a market...when it make sense ISLE will divest of assets near end of life or mature/declining markets.
- Interact with Goldstein family? Fully involved and 3 members sit on the Board of Directors.
