The Sands Regent Reports Third Quarter and Fiscal 2005 Year-To-Date Financial Results
- Operating income increases year over year from $145,000 to $802,000 for the third quarter and from $2.1 million to $5.3 million for the year to date. - EBITDAR increases year over year from $1.3 million to $2.5 million for the third quarter and from $5.5 million to $10.5 million for the year to date. - Conference call scheduled for 10:00 a.m. PDT today. RENO, Nev. - PRNewswire-FirstCall - May 11
RENO, Nev., May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Sands Regent (NASDAQ:SNDS) today announced financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of fiscal year 2005, ended March 31, 2005.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2005, consolidated net revenues improved by 39.9% to $18.4 million, from $13.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2004. This primarily reflected the inclusion of $6.2 million in net revenues from Rail City Casino in Sparks, Nevada, which The Sands Regent acquired in May 2004. Net revenue from the downtown Sands Regency and Gold Ranch declined 7.1% from the prior-year period as a result of severe weather conditions during the quarter.
The Company's income from operations improved from $145,000 in the prior- year quarter to $802,000 in the most recent quarter. The improvement also resulted from the inclusion of the third full quarter of Rail City's results as a subsidiary of The Sands Regent, partially offset by the weather-impacted results at the downtown Reno Sands Regency and the Gold Ranch in Verdi, Nevada.
The Company reported consolidated net income of $259,000, or $0.04 per basic share, $0.03 diluted, for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. This compared to consolidated net income of $30,000, or $0.01 per basic and diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, 2004.
Quarterly EBITDAR for the period ended March 31, 2005 was $2.5 million, 90.3% higher than the $1.3 million in EBITDAR recorded for the prior-year quarter.
For the nine months ended March 31, 2005, consolidated net revenues for The Sands Regent grew 42.6%, to $59.7 million, from $41.8 million for the corresponding prior-year period, again reflecting strong Rail City results. Rail City's net revenues for the nine-month period totaled $18.5 million.
The Company's income from operations improved 157.8%, to $5.3 million in the nine months ended March 31, 2005, compared to $2.1 million in the corresponding prior-year period, also reflecting strong Rail City results.
Consolidated net income totaled $2.4 million, or $0.38 per basic share, $0.35 diluted for the nine months ended March 31, 2005, as compared to consolidated net income of $5.4 million, or $1.06 per basic share, $1.01 diluted for the nine months ended March 31, 2004. The results for the prior- year nine-month period included non-operating gains totaling $4.4 million in connection with sale of the Copa Casino. Nine-month EBITDAR grew 89.5% year over year, from $5.5 million in the nine months ended March 31, 2004 to $10.5 million in the nine months ended March 31, 2005.
Ferenc B. Szony, President and CEO of The Sands Regent, commented, "We continue to be pleased with the results of Rail City, the latest addition to our portfolio of properties. Unusually severe winter weather during the third quarter adversely impacted results at our downtown Sands Regency property and at Gold Ranch, which are more dependent on tourist traffic. In April, the downtown Sands Regency and Gold Ranch continued to be affected by unusual weather patterns. Rail City, with its customer base consisting almost exclusively of residents of the greater Reno/Sparks area, provided diversification and balance to our results."
Mr. Szony continued, "As previously announced, our pending acquisition of the Depot Casino and Red Hawk Sports Bar in Dayton, Nevada will allow us to continue to pursue our strategy of diversification. We expect to close on the Dayton transaction in the first quarter of fiscal 2006."
Mr. Szony concluded, "We continue to pay down long-term debt, which stood at $36.9 million at June 30, 2004 and has declined to $21.4 million at March 31, 2005."
Management of The Sands Regent will host a conference call to discuss its third-quarter and nine-month financial results today, Wednesday, May 11, at 10:00 a.m. PDT. To participate in the conference call, please dial the following number five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled conference call time: (800) 399-7496, International callers should dial (706) 634-6508. There is no pass code required for this call.
If you are unable to participate in the call at this time, a replay will be available on Wednesday, May 11 at 12 noon PDT through Wednesday, May 18 at 9:00 p.m. PDT; call (800) 642-1687 and enter the conference ID number 6073820; international callers should call (706) 645-9291.
About The Sands Regent
The Sands Regent owns and operates the Sands Regency Casino and Hotel in downtown Reno, Nevada, Gold Ranch Casino and RV Resort in Verdi, Nevada and Rail City Casino in Sparks, Nevada. The Sands Regency is an 833-room hotel and casino with 29,000 square feet of gaming space offering table games, a sports book, poker room, keno, bingo and slot machines. In addition to the amenities and on-site brand name restaurants, the Company's property also includes a 12,000 square foot convention and meeting center which seats close to 1,000 people. For further information, visit http://www.sandsregency.com/.
The Gold Ranch Casino and RV Resort is located in Verdi, Nevada, twelve miles west of Reno. Gold Ranch offers slot machines in an 8,000 square foot casino, a sports book, two restaurants, a 105-space RV park, a California lottery station, an ARCO gas station and a convenience store. Web site: http://www.goldranchrvcasino.com/.
Rail City Casino, located in Sparks, Nevada, has approximately 16,600 square feet of gaming space housing slot machines, table games, keno, a sports book, and the City Cafe family-style restaurant. Located near Victorian Square at 2121 Victorian Avenue in Sparks, it is the first casino a motorist encounters when exiting Interstate 80 at the Rock Boulevard exit (Exit 16). Web site: http://www.railcity.com/.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are based on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the future performance of the Company's management team general economic financial and business conditions, overall conditions in the gaming and entertainment industries, our ability to successfully integrate the operations of casinos that we acquire and realize the expected benefits of these acquisitions, and other factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2004, subsequent Forms 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Sands is providing this information as of the date of this release and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact:
Ferenc B. Szony, President and Chief Executive Officer
The Sands Regent
(775) 348-2210
or
Sean Collins, Partner
CCG Investor Relations
(818) 789-0100
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