Caesars Entertainment Corp. remains bullish on Las Vegas.
During a first quarter earnings call Wednesday, Caesars reported a 5.8% rise in revenues for the Las Vegas market from Jan. 1 through March.
“We again delivered strong results in Las Vegas for the first quarter,” said Joyce Arpin, the company’s senior vice president of finance and treasurer, during the call. “A healthy consumer demand helped us generated net revenues of $955 million with strength across all verticals.”
The Las Vegas market was helped, Arpin said, by a 7.9% rise in hotel revenues. The occupancy rate at Caesars hotel properties in Las Vegas jumped to 95% during the first quarter of 2019, up 2.5% from the same quarter last year.
Visitor volume to Caesars properties in Las Vegas increased slightly — just under 1% — year-over-year from the first quarter of 2018 to the same period this year.
“Positive hotel performance was the result of strong group demand and increased leisure demand from growth and direct booking at Caesars.com,” Arpin said.
Arpin said Caesars remains optimistic on predicted growth within the Las Vegas segment, despite some quarter-to-quarter volatility based on the city’s events calendar and holidays.
“We believe we are well-positioned to benefit from growth in Las Vegas,” Arpin said. “We continue to be bullish on the city over the long term. In 2020 and beyond, we see several different catalysts for growth, including the opening of Caesars Forum and the arrival of the (Oakland) Raiders.”
Overall, the company on Wednesday reported a net loss of $217 million during the first quarter. It posted revenues of $2.12 billion during the period.
Newly hired Caesars CEO Tony Rodio was also on the earnings call. Monday is expected to be his first day on the job after coming to the company from Affinity Gaming.