Century Casinos is eyeing a phased reopening of its entire property portfolio, a move which began this week with its Casinos Poland subsidiary, in which the firm holds a 66.6 per cent ownership interest, swinging the doors open to its eight establishments.
The firm anticipates that further locations will begin to return to operations in June, with all properties expected to reopen by August. This excludes Century Casinos Bath which was permanently closed in March, as well as four of the ship-based casinos that the company operated due to the expiration of concession agreements.
Reopening will be undertaken in-line with government recommendations and could include reduced levels of gaming space, social distancing at slot machines and table games or reduced capacity within the casino, limited restaurant operating hours or continued closure of restaurants, requirements to wear face masks, including the potential to require guests to wear face masks, increased frequency of disinfecting surfaces and other measures to account for varying levels of demand.
Century, which this week inked a sports betting deal with bet365 relating to its home market of Colorado, saw net operating revenue for the year’s first quarter increase 92 per cent to $87.7m (2019: $45.6m). Adjusted EBITDA rose 44 per cent from $6.7m to $9.6m, net loss swung to $45.8m from a profit of $1.06m a year earlier.
“During these unprecedented times, our primary focus is the health, safety and well-being of our team members, guests and communities,” Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, co-chief executive officers of Century Casinos, remarked.
“Through the end of February, we were encouraged by the strength of our operations and the significant growth in net operating revenue and adjusted EBITDA driven in part by our recent acquisition of properties in Missouri and West Virginia. We look forward to reopening our properties, and we plan to meet or exceed all safety requirements set forth by health officials.”
