As reported by: The Reno Gazette-Journal
Casino operator Caesars Entertainment Inc. on Thursday said second-quarter earnings more than tripled, helped by a hefty gain from the sale of the Las Vegas Hilton.

Caesars owns the Reno Hilton, which has been on the market since last year. Its other Northern Nevada property is Caesars Tahoe in Stateline.

Those two properties performed in line with the same quarter of 2003. The Reno Hilton brought in revenue of $31 million, and broke even in operating income. Caesars Tahoe had $19 million of revenue, and posted a loss in operating income of $3 million for the quarter.

Caesars had net income of $148 million, or 48 cents a share, for the latest quarter, compared with $41 million, or 14 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

The latest results included a gain of $87 million from the sale of the Vegas Hilton. Caesars sold the hotel-casino to Colony Capital of Los Angeles for $286 million.

For the entire company, excluding the Vegas Hilton gain and other items, Caesars said it would have posted second-quarter earnings of $60 million, or 19 cents a share, beating the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call by a penny a share.

Revenue for the latest quarter rose 2 percent to $1.16 billion from $1.14 billion.

Wally Barr, Caesars President and chief executive, said, “We had a strong second quarter,” thanks to “continuing strength in the Las Vegas market.”

At the company's flagship Vegas Strip property, Caesars Palace, net revenue increased to $139 million from $132 million a year ago. Company executives said a new 949-room tower at Caesars Palace was on budget and schedule and should be completed next summer.

Caesars, which last week agreed to be acquired by rival gambling company Harrah's Entertainment Inc., also raised its full-year earnings outlook.

For fiscal 2004, the company raised its earnings expectations to 69 cents to 71 cents a share from an earlier estimate of 64 cents to 68 cents a share.

For the first half of the year, Caesars had net income of $219 million, or 70 cents a share, compared with $82 million, or 27 cents a share, a year ago. Six-month revenue came to $2.36 billion, up from $2.22 billion a year earlier.

The price Harrah's is paying for Caesars includes $5.2 billion in cash and stock and about $4.2 billion in Caesars debt.