In the glitzy world of casino gambling, Isle of Capri Corp. is not a particularly big name.
Its 15 casinos are relatively modest affairs, focused on local gamblers in out-of-the-way towns like Boonville, Mo., and Waterloo, Iowa. Its headquarters are in a Creve Coeur office park, overlooking Interstate 270, far
But Isle is getting bigger, growing in an economy that has been brutal on casino companies. And Wednesday's vote by the Missouri Gaming Commission, to give the company the state's remaining casino license, means Isle will grow bigger still.
On Thursday, Isle reported a loss of $1 million in its fiscal second quarter, largely due to higher interest payments. But if projections pan out, the $125 million Cape Girardeau casino it plans to build could be one of its most profitable properties. Carlo Santarelli, a gambling analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, predicts Isle will clear $27 million in earnings a year in Cape Girardeau, before interest and other costs.
"We think the Cape Girardeau project represents a distinct positive for Isle," he wrote in a research note this week.
It will also be Isle's fourth casino in its home state, and while individually none are as big as St. Louis-area heavyweights like Ameristar in St. Charles and Harrah's in Maryland Heights, together they give Isle a big footprint in the state.
As the gaming commission reviewed applications, some industry-watchers thought they might be reluctant to put four licenses in the hands of the same company. But the state's familiarity with Isle was actually a strength, commission Chairman Jim Mathewson said Wednesday.
"Isle of Capri has proved themselves to be good corporate citizens," he said. "We know their record."
Isle is looking to grow elsewhere, too.
In June, the company bought Rainbow Casino in Vicksburg, Miss., for $80 million. It is waiting to hear — likely by January — from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board about its application to build a $50 million casino at a resort outside Pittsburgh.
And in September, Isle and its executives applied for and received licenses in Nevada, the first step in a potential return to Las Vegas — where Isle sold its interest in a casino in 2002.
Any Isle forays into Las Vegas would likely be via a management contract, said spokeswoman Jill Haynes, rather than building and owning their own casino, as in Cape Girardeau.
With the weak economy clobbering debt-laden Vegas properties, bankers and lenders are finding themselves with casinos but no team to manage them. Earlier this year, Isle reached this kind of deal with Deutsche Bank, a lender to then-bankrupt Station Casinos. But Deutsche Bank didn't wind up taking over Station, so Isle's services weren't needed.
Still the company expects more opportunities like that to emerge, and it wants a foot in Vegas just in case.
"The long-term plan includes looking at any opportunity that may be a right fit for our company, including management contracts," Haynes said. "There have been a number of opportunities in Nevada in this economy."
If that happens, expect Isle's not particularly big name to keep getting bigger.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Copyright © 2024 ToCasino.net Online Casino. All Rights Reserved. Designed by