Boyd Gaming chief bullish on internet operations

Continued weakness in casual play was the root cause for the weak performance of the Boyd Gaming group, said CEO Kevin Smith this week as he revealed that the US gambling group had suffered a decline in profit and revenue in the second quarter.

Group profits were significantly down, declining from $11.6 million in Q2-2013 to only $700,000 this year.

Revenue for the three months to end June was down 2 percent at $722.5 million, with adjusted earnings up at $160.2 million, thanks to an $11 million tax settlement from its Atlantic City joint interests with MGM, where Boyd has a 50 percent stake in the Borgata.

Boyd’s share of the Borgata in New Jersey delivered just under $182 million, rising by $9 million from the preceding year.

Online gambling operations contributed a useful $6.7 million to that amount, helping adjusted earnings for Borgata to reach $30,8 million – a 11 percent increase.

Smith took a positive outlook on the company’s online gambling activities in New Jersey, where its partnership with MGM has seen the market-leading Borgata brand break even in July, an occurrence which Smith characterised as a key milestone in the continued development of the internet enterprise.

Despite lower than expected results for the genre, which lost $1.8 million in the quarter, Smith remains confident, saying that he expects online gambling revenues to start picking up in New Jersey as the weather cools.

Philly.com reports that Borgata’s share of online gaming revenues in New Jersey was 29 percent.

Smith revealed that Boyd’s future plans include the launch of a mobile sports book in Nevada in the near future.