Caesars Entertainment has reported a more than 80% increase in icasino for the third quarter of 2024, supporting online revenue growth of over 40% year-over-year.
However, total revenue for the three months fell by more than 2% YoY, after declines were seen across land-based operations in its Regional segment, which CEO Tom Reeg says was impacted by “new competition, construction disruption and difficult comparisons”.
The operator also announced the completion of its World Series of Poker brand sale to GGPoker‘s parent company NSUS Group, in addition to entering a definitive agreement to sell the LINQ Promenade to a joint venture to be formed between TPG Real Estate (TPG) and the Investment Management Platform of Acadia Realty Trust (Acadia).
Caesars Digital growth
Publishing its Q3 results, Caesars reported a total revenue for the quarter of $2.87bn, down 2.6% YoY (Q3 2023: $2.99bn).
Reeg noted that results in its Las Vegas segment reflected “record third quarter hotel, F&B and banquet revenues driven by strong occupancy and cash ADRs”, while its Regional segment was “negatively impacted by new competition, construction disruption and difficult comparisons versus the prior year”.
Revenue per segment, Las Vegas fell by 1.3% YoY to $1.06bn (2023: $1.12bn), Regional decreased by 7.6% to $1.45bn (2023: $1.57bn) and Caesars Digital increased by 40.9% to $303m (2023: $215m).
Elsewhere, Managed and Branded revenue declined by 30.6% YoY to $68m (2023: $98m) while Corporate and Other revenue fell to minus $5m (2023: minus $4m).
Looking at online operations closer, Reeg mentioned during Caesars’ Q3 earnings call that Caesars Digital increases were supported by icasino growing by 83% during the quarter.
The operator continued to grow its icasino operations after the quarter concluded with the launch of the igaming platform Horseshoe Online Casino at the beginning of October.
Adjusted EBITDA stays flat
Caesars’ net income came in at a loss of $9m (2023: $74m net income), while adjusted EBITDA stayed flat at $1bn.
Adjusted EBITDA per segment, Las Vegas fell by 2.1% YoY to $472m (2023: $482m), Regional declined by 13.4% to $498m (2023: $575m) and Caesars Digital came in at $52m (2023: $2m).
Reeg noted that Caesars Digital’s adjusted EBITDA was a new all-time quarterly record “driven by over 40% growth in net revenues”.
Managed and Branded adjusted EBITDA fell by 5% YoY to $19m (2023: $20m) while Corporate and Other adjusted EBITDA dropped by 11.1% to minus $40m (2023: minus $36m).
As of 30 September, Caesars had $12.7bn in aggregate principal amount of debt outstanding. Total cash and cash equivalents were $802m, excluding restricted cash of $124m.
CFO Bret Yunker stated: “On October 17, we successfully closed on a new $1.1bn senior unsecured refinancing which, along with financings earlier in the year, continue to set the stage for significant interest expense savings in 2025.
“As of today, we have received $250m in cash proceeds from the World Series of Poker brand sale. We are excited to be nearing the completion of our multi-year Caesars New Orleans renovation and permanent Caesars Virginia projects.”
