Century Casinos’ losses on UK operation

Losses at its UK casino in Bath, England, are causing problems for Century Casinos.

The US operator said in its annual report that the intangible and tangible assets of the location were “impaired.” This impairment totalled $16.5m and was the result of evaluating losses incurred at the venue since operations began.

The company said it had concluded that there would be more losses to come. “Future forecasts (are) of continued losses due to the current regulatory environment for casinos in the UK.”

However its late-2019 acquisitions, the Casino Cape Girardeau and Lady Luck Caruthersville, both in Missouri, US and the Mountaineer Casino in New Cumberland, West Virginia, all bought from Eldorado Resorts for $110.6m, had immediately paid off. Century had sold the real estate assets to an affiliate of VICI Properties and then went into a deal with VICI to lease the casinos.

The year for Century ended with net operating revenue of $67.2m, up from $45.1m in the previous year. There was a net loss of $20m, but adjusted EBITDA rose from $5.8m to $9.7m.