Las Vegas Casinos Report Dismal Third Quarter

October 29, 2009 · Print This Article

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Harrah’s Las Vegas

Harrah’s Entertainment tops the list with a net loss of more than a billion dollars compared to last year’s reported third quarter net income of $350 million. The Las Vegas based gaming giant and operator of eight Las Vegas resorts including strip flagship, Caesars Palace, blames the losses on the lack of visitors with money to spend.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. reported third quarter net income of $34.2 million, a 33% drop from last year’s third quarter income of $52.1 million. Tuesday’s news of the decline saw the stock lose about 10% in late trading. On the positive side the report stated it made money and that’s proof the shrewd can open a $3 billion dollar ultra resort, operate world destinations on opposite sides of the globe, and turn a profit.

Another glimmer of hope from the gambling industry’s latest report card. Las Vegas based gaming giant, Boyd Gaming, reported net income of $6.3 million, down 28% from the $8.7 million reported for the same period last year.

Boyd Gaming wisely announced they were placing the $5 billion Echelon project on the Las Vegas strip on hold for an indefinite period of instance. A return to work to finish the project will be dependent on a turn around of the floped economy and probably will come no sooner than 2011 and perhaps closer to 2015.

photo by

flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The only sounds heard at the Fountainebleau are the desert winds blowing through the unfinished structure

Across the boulevard the unfinished multi-billion dollar ultra-resort, Fontainebleau Las Vegas, sits silent in the harsh desert light. Why? considering no one wants to risk the billion or so in cash needed to finish the seventy percent completed project. Is the 68 story ultra-luxurious hotel tower destined to become the forever unfinished monolith to mark the day the blues came to Las Vegas?

Most of these projects were conceived during the end of the Las Vegas golden years when strip acreage was going for $30 million instead of today’s paltry $12 million. A day when everyone knew the magic formula, “Build it and they will pay $500 a night to sleep in it.” that day honored axiom will be severely tested come December when MGM Mirage’s city-within-a-city, CityCenter, opens its $11 billion door to the public. whether they keep their rooms filled with guest mined from other strip properties has the city really gained much?

The dark clouds of economic gloom blanketing Las Vegas are expected to linger for years to come and that alone guarantees hard times ahead for the once high flying gaming Mecca.

Have a great day.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Will Buck & Winnie move down the boulevard to crystal city?