Century happy with its first quarter following tough start due to adverse weather
Losing days to bad weather and the lack of an extra leap year day that 2024 had, led to Century Casinos posting revenues of $130.4m, a decrease of four per cent but its CEOs were still bouyant about its performance.
“When you sort through the noise, you see the positive trend and you feel good about the results,” Peter Hoetzinger, Co-Chief Executive Officer said. “During the quarter, our team successfully managed a number of issues, including significantly more weather-impacted days throughout the entire North American portfolio as well as one less operating day compared to last year. Despite these headwinds, we maintained the operating margin consistent with Q1 of last year. To put the weather, leap year and lower sports betting revenue impacts into perspective, here are the monthly results. In January, we generated EBITDAR of just $3m, well below even our most conservative forecasts. February, also impacted by weather as well as the calendar, was a bit better, but still just $6.5m Then a rather normal month of March produced a solid $10.5m EBITDAR, up eight per cent over last year’s March.
“Overall, we estimate the impact of EBITDAR of weather, leap year and the partial loss of sports betting revenue in Colorado to be around $2m this quarter compared to last Q1 last year. Across all our U. S. Properties, carded gaming revenue increased one per cent, while uncarded gaming revenue decreased 2.5 per cent.”
Total visitor volume was down three per cent, driven by a reduction in visits from the 50 age group, partly offset by a one per cent increase from Century’s younger guests. The total number of trips declined by tow per cent, while the spend per trip increased four per cent.
Erwin Haitzmann Co-Chief Executive Officers of Century Casinos, added: “We were able to maintain the Adjusted EBITDAR margin from the first quarter of 2024 despite decreased revenue from weather impacts throughout North America, one fewer operating day compared to 2024 and the loss of high margin sports betting revenue in Colorado. This is due primarily to successful cost cutting strategies at the Nugget, which generated positive Adjusted EBITDAR in what typically is the most challenging quarter for the property. We are also excited by the initial success of the new Caruthersville casino, which opened in November 2024.
“We expect quarterly capital expenditures to decrease for the remainder of 2025 as we spent proportionally more in the first quarter. With overall capital expenditures substantially lower in 2025 due to the completion of our capital projects and properties such as Caruthersville open and operating, we anticipate cash generation and our cash position to improve during the remainder of 2025 and into 2026.”
The company was awarded a second license in the city of Wroclaw in March 2025. The Company expects to open the casino in the fourth quarter of 2025.
