Harrah’s optimistic about new rival Las Vegas casinos

20.09.2006, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «Harrah’s optimistic about new rival Las Vegas casinos»

It has plans for future redevelopment of its Vegas and Atlantic City properties (US).- Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s biggest casino operator, is not worried about the coming influx of new casino hotels on the Las Vegas Strip because most are aimed at high-end customers, the company’s CFO said on Tuesday.

"There is a noticeable gap in premier tier and certainly value tier properties. That’s historically been a very important market for us," CFO Jonathan Halkyard said at a Bank of America investment conference. He was referring to new projects underway by companies including MGM Mirage, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and Boyd Gaming. "There are many customers who present high-spend levels, but don’t want to spend us$ 350 on a room," Halkyard said.

In addition, some hotels will be closed or demolished for the new projects, which in the near-term will mean a downturn in supply, the Harrah’s CFO said. "In the near term - the next 18 months to two years - there will be some contraction as we see some supply, including ours, come out of the market," Halkyard said.

He noted that redevelopment of the 2,600-room Imperial Palace, which Las Vegas-based Harrah’s acquired last year, would present the least disruption to the company’s Strip portfolio of 18,000 hotel rooms. "We will be very careful of taking out a lot of capacity at once. It is really a 10-year plan," the CFO said.

The company has said it plans to announce within the next several months plans for redevelopment of its Las Vegas and Atlantic City, New Jersey properties. Halkyard also said Harrah’s, which agreed last month to acquire Britain’s London Clubs for about us$ 530 million, is bullish on expansion plans in Atlantic City.

"The market needs new rooms. A lack of rooms, among other things, has constrained growth," he said of the New Jersey gambling city. Halkyard said he expected the pending opening of newly legal casinos in Pennsylvania to eventually shave some 5 to 10 percent from Atlantic City gaming revenue. Yahoo Finance

Über Harrah's Las Vegas Hotel and Casino:

Das Casino gehört zu Caesars Entertainment. Caesars Entertainment Inc. wurde 1937 als Harrah's gegründet und wurde 2010 in Caesars Entertainment umbenannt. Besitzer sind die Investment-Firmen Apollo Global Management, TPG Capital und The Blackstone Group.

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