Boyd Gaming revenue up but misses Wall Street expectations

Boyd Gaming

Boyd Gaming Corp.’s Suncoast hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

Boyd Gaming increased revenue but saw shareholder earnings slip while missing Wall Street expectations.

During its fourth-quarter earnings report today, the Las Vegas company said it remained encouraged by the growth of its locals market toward the end of the year, which it attributed to its marketing of penny slots.

Among the highlights:

• Adjusted earnings for the fourth quarter were down $27.7 million, or 31 cents per share. That compares to a loss of $2.9 million, or 3 cents per share, for the fourth quarter the previous year.

• Fourth-quarter revenues were up 3.2 percent from 2011 at $625.8 million but missed Wall Street estimates of $635.37 million.

• For the year, the company reported net revenue up 6.5 percent from 2011 at $2.49 billion. That included the Nov. 20 acquisition of Peninsula Gaming. Year-end adjusted earnings showed a loss of 28 cents per share, compared to one cent per share the year before.

“We continued to make significant progress executing our company’s strategic plan,” Boyd CEO Keith Smith said. “The completion of the Peninsula acquisition further diversifies our operations and will strengthen our balance sheet by greatly expanding our free cash flow. We were also encouraged to see sequential improvement throughout the quarter in our Las Vegas locals business, as our initiatives in this market began to pay off.”

Gaming

Share