Don’t be surprised if you see patrons of The Strat carrying golf bags around the casino later this year.
Officials at Golden Entertainment Inc., operator of The Strait, said in an investor call Wednesday that they expect half a million annual visitors to Flight Golf and the entertainment’s nuclear golf courses. The facility is expected to open in time for the arrival of thousands of visitors to the city for the opening of Formula One’s Las Vegas Grand Prix on 18 November.
With 99,000 square feet, Atomic Golf will have 103 golf courses and 10 putting bays.
It will be the latest of new or renovated facilities at the 2,427-room resort, which features the tallest observation tower in the United States.
In an interview after the earnings call, chief marketing officer Brad Goldberg said that the $75 million Atomic Golf was specifically designed to be located north of the hotel-casino so that guests could park in the Strata and walk through the casino. can use it.
“We think there will be a lot of movement,” Goldberg said. “We have the ability to market to those guests as they walk in, with signage or any type of special promotion.”
Goldberg said Golden is working with Atomic to develop cross-marketing that allows Golden’s True Rewards loyalty cardholders to earn points on their purchases at golf courses or use them for on-course transactions.
“We are focused on the integration of the True Rewards program so that True Rewards members have a seamless experience, as it is just another service that is part of the overall program,” says Goldberg.
Profitable first quarter
Golden reported a profitable first quarter that fell short of analyst expectations. The company reported net income of $11.6 million, or 38 cents per share, on revenue of $278.1 million for the quarter ended March 31. The figure contrasts with $36.1 million ($1.12 per share) of earnings of $273.6 million in the same quarter of 2022.
During the call, Chairman and CEO Blake Sartini said the two large transactions the company announced last year will close in 2023.
In August 2022, it announced it was selling its Rocky Gap casino resort in Flintstone, Maryland to real estate investment trust Vici Properties Inc. for $203.9 million and casino operations to Colorado Springs-based Century Casinos Inc. Colorado for $56.1 million . Sartini said the deal would close in June.
In March, Golden announced that it was selling its distributed gaming operations in Nevada and Montana to J&J Ventures Gaming of Effingham, Illinois, for $322.5 million, plus an estimated $39 million in cash purchases.
The transaction is expected to close in late 2023.
Analyst: Good days are coming
Between the completion of two large transactions, new and renovated facilities and Las Vegas’ strong schedule of conventions and events in the second half of 2023, Golden should be concluded, said John DeCree, gaming industry analyst at Las Vegas-based CBRE Equity Research. Needed coming quarters.
“With the renewal schedule, we expect carryover to the second quarter to be similar to the first quarter,” Decree said in a Thursday report to investors.
“However, all suite and room renovations should be completed by the end of the second quarter, which will position Strata to take advantage of the strong band and event calendar in the second half of 2023. We expect Strata to begin selecting Weekday occupancy increased in the first quarter with a large convention schedule in Las Vegas, but room inventory disruptions further delayed occupancy until the second half.
Decree noted that Strata’s occupancy is still below 2019 levels, but that large concourses and weekday occupancy should return in the second half of the year.
“We estimate that while occupancy in Strata was still approximately 20 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter, more than $20 million of potential annual cash flow recovery is still on the horizon. This, combined with the return on investment from Nuclear Golf’s opening later in the year and recent room renovations, should translate into earnings growth in the second half of 2023 and into fiscal 2024, if applicable. United States”.
