Golden Entertainment sees improved performance in Q3

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Golden Entertainment, Inc. reported financial results for the third quarter ended on 30 September 2023.

“For our third quarter, we saw improved performance in our Nevada Casino Resorts segment which was primarily driven by increased occupancy and our recent completion of room and pool renovations at The STRAT," said Blake Sartini, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Golden. "Our Nevada Locals Casinos segment maintained the strong performance we have seen throughout the year, while our taverns experienced typical seasonality with lower summer volumes. Following our divestiture of Rocky Gap Casino Resort in July, we completed the sale of our Montana distributed gaming business in September and we remain on track to complete the sale of our Nevada distributed gaming business at the end of the year. The completion of these transactions significantly strengthens our balance sheet, enables return of capital to shareholders and provides financial flexibility to enhance shareholder value.”

The company allocated $175 million of the cash proceeds from the sale of Rocky Gap Casino Resort to repay its remaining borrowings outstanding under the original term loan. In addition, the company paid a one-time cash dividend of $2.00 per share of its outstanding common stock and repurchased 252,395 shares of common stock for total consideration of $9.1 million in the third quarter of 2023. As of 30 September 2023, the Company had approximately $91 million of availability remaining under its share repurchase authorization.

Consolidated Results
Third quarter 2023 revenues were $257.7 million, compared to $279.0 million for the third quarter of 2022. Net income for the third quarter of 2023 was $241.2 million, or $7.83 per fully diluted share, compared to net income of $14.0 million, or $0.45 per fully diluted share, for the third quarter of 2022. Third quarter 2023 Adjusted EBITDA was $53.2 million, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $61.1 million for the third quarter of 2022. Declines in revenues and Adjusted EBITDA were primarily due to the exclusion of full quarter results for the company’s Rocky Gap Casino Resort and the Montana distributed gaming business that were sold during the third quarter.

The third quarter of 2023 results only include 24 days of operations for the Rocky Gap Casino Resort and do not include 18 days of operations for distributed gaming operations in Montana when compared to the prior year. In addition, earnings for the quarter include the impact of the $305.8 million gain on the sales of the Rocky Gap Casino Resort and the Montana distributed gaming business as well as transaction costs of $8.6 million recognized during the quarter.

Debt and Liquidity
As of 30 September 2023, the company’s total principal amount of debt outstanding was $738.7 million, consisting primarily of $399.0 million in outstanding borrowings under the new term loan and $335.5 million of senior unsecured notes. As of September 30, 2023, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $295.9 million. There continues to be no outstanding borrowings under the company’s $240 million revolving credit facility.

During October 2023, the company repurchased $49.3 million in principal amount of its senior unsecured notes in open market transactions, thereby reducing the aggregate principal amount of the senior unsecured notes outstanding to $286.2 million.