Century Casinos, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2016 Results

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 6, 2016 /CNW/ -- Century Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ Capital Market®: CNTY) today announced its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2016.

First Quarter 2016 Highlights*

• Net operating revenue was $32.5 million, a 7% increase from the three months ended March 31, 2015.
• Adjusted EBITDA** was $5.6 million, an 18% increase from the three months ended March 31, 2015.
• Earnings from operations were $3.4 million, a 61% increase from the three months ended March 31, 2015.
• Net earnings attributable to Century Casinos, Inc. shareholders were $1.9 million, a 3% increase from the three months ended March 31, 2015.
• Earnings per share were $0.08.  
• Book value per share*** at March 31, 2016 was $5.24.

The period over period increases in net operating revenue, Adjusted EBITDA** and net earnings attributable to Century Casinos, Inc. shareholders primarily relate to the operating results of Century Downs Racetrack and Casino ("CDR") and Century Bets! Inc. ("CBS"). CDR opened its casino on April 1, 2015 and held its first horse race on April 25, 2015. CBS began operating the pari-mutuel off-track betting network in southern Alberta on May 4, 2015. The Company owns 75% of each of CDR and CBS through one of its subsidiaries.

In 2015, we amended our concession agreement with TUI Cruises to include our operation of the ship-based casinos onboard Mein Schiff 5 and Mein Schiff 6, two new 2,500 passenger cruise ships that are expected to begin operations in the third quarter of 2016 and 2017, respectively. In March 2016, we announced that we had signed an agreement with Thomson Cruises to operate the ship-based casino onboard the TUI Discovery, a 2,067 passenger cruise ship that is expected to begin operations in the second quarter of 2016. In addition, we signed an agreement with Taihu International Cruise Company and Diamond Cruise International to operate the ship-based casino onboard Glory Sea, a 1,200 passenger cruise ship that is expected to begin operations in the second quarter of 2016.

"We are pleased with our performance for the quarter, including the 61% growth in earnings from operations, which reflects the results of our business development efforts as well as the underlying strength and stability of our geographically diverse portfolio of casino assets," Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, Co Chief Executive Officers of Century Casinos, said. "We look forward to the opening of additional cruise ship casinos in the second quarter and to further advance the Company through organic growth as well as the acquisition of additional properties," they continued.

Three Months Ended March 31, 2016 Results*

The table below shows the Company's operating segments that are included in each of the Company's reportable segments:

Net operating revenue increased by $2.1 million, or 7%, for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2015. Following is a summary of the changes in net operating revenue by segment for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2015:

Earnings from operations increased by $1.3 million, or 61%, for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2015.  Following is a summary of the changes in earnings from operations by segment for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2015:

Net earnings (loss) attributable to Century Casinos, Inc. shareholders increased by less than $0.1 million, or 3%, for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2015. Following is a summary of the changes in net earnings (loss) attributable to Century Casinos, Inc. shareholders by segment for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2015:

Items deducted from or added to earnings from operations to arrive at net earnings (loss) attributable to Century Casinos, Inc. shareholders include interest income, interest expense, gains (losses) on foreign currency transactions and other, income tax expense and non-controlling interests.

Segment Results (in thousands)*

The following are segment results for net operating revenue and Adjusted EBITDA**.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

As of March 31, 2016, the Company had $29.9 million in cash and cash equivalents and $37.9 million in outstanding debt on its balance sheet compared to $29.4 million in cash and cash equivalents and $36.5 million in outstanding debt at December 31, 2015. The $37.9 million in outstanding debt as of March 31, 2016 includes $21.1 million related to the Company's Bank of Montreal credit agreement, $1.3 million related to Casinos Poland, Ltd. and $15.6 million related to a long-term land lease and capital leases of CDR, net of $0.2 million in deferred financing costs.  

Conference Call Information

Today the Company will post a copy of its quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 on its website at http://corporate.cnty.com/investor-relations/sec-filings. The Company will also post a presentation on the first quarter results on its website at http://corporate.cnty.com/investor-relations/presentations-and-interviews.

Century Casinos will host its first quarter 2016 earnings conference call today at 8:00 am MDT; 4:00 pm CEST, respectively. U.S. domestic participants should dial 1-844-244-9160. For all international participants, please use 330-931-4670 to dial-in. Participants may listen to the call live at https://centurycasinos.adobeconnect.com/earningsrelease or obtain a recording of the call on the Company's website until May 31, 2016 at http://corporate.cnty.com/investor-relations/sec-filings.

*Amounts presented are rounded.  As such, rounding differences could occur in period over period changes and percentages reported.

**Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are Non-GAAP financial measures. See discussion and reconciliation of Non-GAAP financial measures in Supplemental Information below.

*** The Company defines book value per share as total Century Casinos shareholders' equity divided by outstanding common shares.