Majority of Atlantic City Casinos Increase Their Profits in 2016

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released the 2016 revenue data for Atlantic City casinos.

The info went public on Friday and showed nearly all AC casinos reported healthy profits in the previous year, although the revenue gains were modest.

Better Than 2015

The total revenue rose by 0.4% to $3.51 billion in 2016, while gross operating profit reached $597.4 million, which is 7.3% more when compared to the results from 2015. Still, you have to bear one thing in mind – the Trump Taj Mahal didn’t make a full year’s contribution to the overall result, since it was closed in October.

Casino sales brought $2.52 billion, an increase of 1%, while entertainment revenue made it up by 2.1% to $154.5 million. On the other hand, room revenue declined by 0.2% to $431 million, although the overall room occupancy rose by 0.7%.

The revenue from food and beverage also declined by 2.2%, while the third party businesses remained almost the same as in 2015.

Who Won, and Who Didn’t

A total of seven casinos currently operate in Atlantic City, and four of them manage to increase their profits in 2016. Borgata leads the way when it comes to profits, since it earned $244.7 million, or 13.3% more than in 2015.

The biggest yearly raise was achieved by the Golden Nugget, which managed to increase its profits by 28.1% to $29 million.

All three casinos that reported decline in profits were the properties of Caesars Entertainment. Harrah earned $119.1 million (-3%), Caesars AC is down 3.7% to $80.3 million, while Bally’s $39 million were 2.5% less than the casino earned in 2015.

According to DGE report, online is the place to be, since two Atlantic City operators which only offer online gambling, smashed their records in 2016. Caesars Interactive Entertainment New Jersey reported a rise of 143% in profits ($9.77 million), with Resorts Digital nearly tripling the revenue to $20.4 million.

The last quarter of 2016 was even more positive for AC casinos, with all of them reporting rise in profits. These numbers give a much needed dose of optimism for some of them, which hope to achieve better results in this year.