Casino news source: Lockport Union-Sun & Journal - http://www.lockportjournal.com
GAMING: Casino revenue increases
Senecas’ Falls site sees 9 percent year-to-year jump in earnings
By Paul Lane/lanep@gnnewspaper.com
Niagara Gazette
Third-quarter earnings at Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel are up 9 percent from a year ago but slightly down from the second quarter of this year.
In a report released Thursday, Seneca Gaming Corporation officials announced that net revenue for the Falls casino was $103.9 million. That number is up from the $94.9 million earned in the third quarter of 2006.
The year-to-year increase was largely attributed to an 11 percent jump in net slot revenue, from $75.1 million in the third quarter of 2006 to $83.2 million this year.
As that number goes up, so does the money returned to the city. The Senecas’ agreement with the state calls for 25 percent of slot machine revenue to be returned to the Falls; the state received about $160 million in slot money from 2003 to 2005.
The opening of the $234 million hotel on the Falls site March 31, 2006, helped boost that and other year-to-year numbers, according to Brian Hansberry, interim president and CEO of the corporation.
“Operating results at our Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel continue to be strong and demonstrate the positive impact of our investment in the luxury hotel, related amenities and programs initiated to expand our market,” he said.
The Falls casino’s net earnings for fiscal 2007 were $306.1 million for the nine months ending June 30. This represents an 18 percent increase fro the same nine months in 2006, when the casino made $260.1 million.
The corporation’s combined revenue, which includes money made from the Seneca Allegany Casino and Hotel in Salamanca, was $149.2 million for the third quarter of 2007. That number increased 11 percent from 2006, when the quarterly earnings were $134.3 million.
The corporation also shelled out its fair share of money this past quarter. About $11.6 million was spent on the recently opened hotel at the Allegany site, while $1.3 million was spent to close out the construction costs for the Falls location.
The temporary Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino, which opened its doors in July in downtown Buffalo, cost about $4.3 million this quarter. Work continues, meanwhile, on the permanent Buffalo facility, a 220,000-square-foot structure that’s targeted to open in 2010.
That casino should employ 1,000 people, which combined with the roughly 4,230 employees of the Falls and Salamanca casinos means a lot the area, said Barry E. Snyder Sr. chairman of the corporation.
“We have developed an amazing record of investment and economic support for the local economy,” he has said.
That investment also includes Hickory Stock Golf Club, a $20 million course that’s set to open in 2009 in the Town of Lewiston. The 251-acre site is slated to remain on the tax rolls, which Seneca officials estimate could mean up to $312,000 in property taxes and $388,000 in sales tax in its first year of operation. |
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