Casino news from http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/
The Charlottetown racino lost $2.4 million last year, but promoters say things are improving.
The financial figures were presented in the corporation’s 2005-2006 annual report made public Friday.
Provincial Treasurer Mitch Murphy said the loss has already been discussed publicly at the end of the corporation’s fiscal year this past March. Since then, said Murphy, the financial situation at the racino has improved.
He said the March figures represented the first seven months the facility was open, during which time it reached just 60 per cent of expected revenue. To operate at a profit the racino has to be over 100 per cent of projections.
“The good news is that for the first fiscal quarter this year, which is April, May, June, (it has) moved from 60 per cent to 96 per cent of projected revenues, which is good,” he said. “(It is) moving in the right direction, the business is growing and obviously they are doing better.
“I am pretty pleased with the direction things are going in out there and the impact the facility has had on the harness racing industry and just the general impact in terms of people hired,” said Murphy. “They have $3.3 million in payroll and of course it is a very important part of our tourism product as well.”
His optimism is not shared by Opposition Leader Robert Ghiz.
“Losing $2.4 million, that could have been $2.4 million that could have gone into health care, could have went into education,” said Ghiz. “Those revenue dollars go into our coffers but unfortunately, if we are losing money, there is less money for social programs here in the province. I think it is reason for concern. It is why we have wanted in the past to have Atlantic Lottery Corporation come before the Public Accounts Committee.
“Here we are in Prince Edward Island with really a casino and I don’t hear of too many casinos in the world that lose money, yet somehow our casino manages to lose money,” said Ghiz. “To me it all goes back to the business plan. Do we have the population to sustain this?”
Darlene Doucet, spokesperson for the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, said the figures released Friday need to be considered in light of “the big picture.”
“That is now a $25-million state-of-the-art facility that employs 150 people,” said Doucet.
“That in itself is about $3.3 million in salaries and benefits that is additional to the Island because of the facility.
“You are also looking at the extras in terms of what it has done for harness racing, the increase in investment in horses and training and the veterinarian needs and the agricultural products, plus all the local businesses that benefit from the harness racing growth and the facility itself,” she said.
“The economic impact is fairly broad so that has to be taken into consideration which is not necessarily reflected in that bottom line,” said Doucet.
She said the racino is going to get better.
Doucet noted that games that were not popular have been replaced with games requested by patrons, including the addition of revolving wheel units similar to “one-arm bandits.”
“We are really seeing positive results from that,” said Doucet.
“We have 30 years of proven expertise in terms of gaming,” she said.
“We are quite confident that with recommendations from players and patrons we can make the necessary adjustments, whether it is in hours of operation, whether it’s bringing new games in, whether it’s making sure we have the right menu in the Top of the Park and in the snack bar.”
In some cases, she said, it’s a matter of making sure the racino can control operational expenses.
“We are quite confident that the (racino) will become another milestone for ALC in terms of its history and what it has achieved.”
Poker has become hugely popular around the world, said Doucet, so the racino is lobbying the P.E.I. government to allow poker tables at the gaming facility.
Better to play poker at a location that has security, surveillance and a responsible gambling policy “as opposed to unregulated sites that you might find on the Internet,” said Doucet.
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