Operator News
US – Caesars delivers record Q1 EBITDA in Las Vegas
By Phil - 4 May 2023
Caesars Entertainment delivered a new Q1 Adjusted EBITDA record in Las Vegas for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 with revenues of $2.8bn across the board versus $2.3bn a year ago.
Trends in Las Vegas remained strong during Q1, delivering 24 per cent revenue growth and 33 per cent EBITDA growth versus last year. The regional segment was negatively impacted by severe winter weather in Northern Nevada. Regionally, Caesars delivered two per cent revenue growth and a two per cent decline in adjusted EBITDA versus last year.
Tom Reeg, Chief Executive Officer of Caesars Entertainment, Inc., commented, “We delivered another strong quarter led by a new Q1 Adjusted EBITDA record in Las Vegas. Results in our regional segment remained consistent with prior quarters especially when excluding the impact of bad weather in northern Nevada during the quarter. Our digital segment was nearly break even in the quarter despite launching operations in Ohio and Massachusetts.”
Anthony Carano, President and Chief Operating Officer at Caesars Entertainment, said: “We had a strong start to 2023 in the first quarter. Our Las Vegas segment delivered a Q1 EBITDA and EBITDA margin record and our regional segment reported a strong quarter, excluding weather disruptions in Northern Nevada. In addition, our Digital segment was nearly breakeven despite launching sports betting in two states during the quarter.
“We remain encouraged by the early returns we’re seeing on recently-completed capital projects, including the expansion and the rebrand of Horseshoe, Indianapolis, the expansion and rebrand Harrah’s Pompano Beach and the new land-based Horseshoe Lake Charles,” he added. “We remain on track to open a temporary facility in Danville, Virginia on May 15 and in Columbus, Nebraska by the end of Q2. Our expansion at Harrah’s Hoosier Park is slated to open in Q3 of this year. Work on our $430m expansion in New Orleans continues and is slated to be completed towards the end of 2024. And finally, we announced that we are transforming the former Jubilee Tower at Horseshoe, Las Vegas and to the new Versailles Tower at Paris, Las Vegas. This $100m rebrand and upgrade is slated to be completed this year.”
Eric Hession, President, Caesars Sports and Online Gaming at Caesars Entertainment, added: “During the first quarter of 2023, we delivered a dramatic improvement in the performance of our Digital segment versus the prior year. Our business nearly broke-even during the quarter on $238m of net revenues versus a $554 million EBITDA loss in last year, which was impacted by significant brand-related spending and state launches in New York and Louisiana. Our performance this quarter clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of our targeted promotional investment within our existing customer base as well as customers located in the new states that we launched this quarter, Ohio and Massachusetts.
Early in the third quarter, Caesars will be launching a new standalone iCasino app, allowing it to drive better customer engagement through a dedicated application with a focus on increased game content, which will include new proprietary offerings and improved marketing capabilities.
It will also begin testing an in-house player account management system later this year, which will ultimately lead to a shared wallet that will be rolled out in 2024.
Mr. Hession added: “From an expansion standpoint, after our most recent launches in Q1, we now offer sports betting in 30 North American jurisdictions, 22 of which we offer mobile wagering. And in addition, we offer iCasino in five jurisdictions.”
