Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (the “Company”) today announced record net
income, earnings per share, casino revenues and net revenues for the third
quarter ended September 30, 2003. Net income for the Company increased
5.7% to $3,665,814, or $0.39 per share (diluted), for the third quarter
ended September 30, 2003, compared to $3,467,460, or $0.36 per share
(diluted), for the third quarter ended September 30, 2002. The Company
also reported casino revenues of $19,893,383 for the quarter, an increase
of 4.8% over the $18,979,642 in the third quarter of 2002. The increase in
casino revenues was partially attributable to an increase in slot machine
win, as well as improved Keno and poker room revenues. Net revenues
reached record highs for the 2003 third quarter, increasing 2.6% over last
year`s third quarter. Contributing to the record net revenues were
increases in food and beverage (3.6%) and other (18.8%) revenue centers
over the third quarter of 2002. Hotel revenues suffered a slight decrease
of 1.3% in the third quarter ended September 30, 2003 as compared to the
third quarter ended September 30, 2002. EBITDA (1), meanwhile, remained
relatively unchanged in the third quarter ended September 30, 2003 as
compared to the third quarter ended September 30, 2002, declining $36,376
from $8,834,010 in the 2002 third quarter to $8,797,634 in the 2003 third
quarter.
John Farahi, Co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Monarch commented
on the results: “Once again, we achieved record numbers despite continued
tightness in the Reno market. This, I believe, speaks for the quality and
location of our product as well as the strength of our management staff
and the friendliness of our employees. We also continued our aggressive
approach in reducing our debt load: we payed down our debt by $4.8 million
during the third quarter of 2003, and by $11.9 million since December 31,
2002. Our record earnings were driven by a 35% reduction in interest and
stockholder guarantee fee expenses over last year`s third quarter. Our
operating income was flat in the third quarter amid tightness in the local
market and increased gaming taxes. This increase in the gaming tax rate
took effect August 1, 2003, and had a $138 thousand impact on our bottom
line.” Mr. Farahi added, “we could not have achieved our results if not
for the strong efforts of the entire Atlantis team and the continued
loyalty of our guests.”
Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiary, owns
and operates the tropically-themed Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno, Nevada.
The Atlantis is the closest hotel-casino to and is directly across the
street from the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, which completed a $105
million expansion and renovation in August 2002. The Atlantis is
recognizable due to its Sky Terrace, a unique structure rising
approximately 55 feet from street level and spanning 160 feet across the
street with no intermediate support pillars. The Sky Terrace connects the
Atlantis to a 16-acre parcel of land owned by the Company, that is
compliant with all casino zoning requirements and is suitable and
available for future expansion of the Atlantis facilities. It is currently
being used by the Company as additional paved parking for the Atlantis.
The existing Atlantis site offers almost 1,000 guest rooms in three
contiguous high-rise hotel towers and a motor lodge. The tropically-themed
Atlantis features approximately 51,000 square feet of high-energy casino
space with 37 table games and approximately 1,500 slot and video poker
machines, a sports book, Keno and a poker room, and offers a variety of
dining choices in the form of nine high-quality food outlets.
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