Coronavirus shutdown blues for Boyd Gaming Corporation

A little over a month after announcing that it had suspended its first-quarter investor dividend payment and American casino operator Boyd Gaming Corporation has now reportedly unveiled its financial results for the first three months of the year.

According to a report from CDC Gaming Reports, the Las Vegas-headquartered firm has been left reeling by the recent temporary closure of its 29 properties owing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and detailed that its net profit for the three-month period had fallen by over 140% year-on-year to a deficit of $18.3 million courtesy of a 17.7% crash in associated net revenues to $680.5 million.

Extensive anguish:

The coronavirus outbreak reportedly forced Boyd Gaming Corporation to shutter its Valley Forge Casino Resort in eastern Pennsylvania from March 12 while its riverboat Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino followed a day later courtesy of a similar statewide lockdown order for Illinois. The firm is responsible for some twelve venues in Nevada and was purportedly massively impacted by Governor Steve Sisolak’s subsequent analogous decision to close that state’s casinos from March 18.

Earnings angst:

CDC Gaming Reports explained that New York-listed Boyd Gaming Corporation is now mothballed in every one of the ten states in which it has casinos and chalked up a 35.2% decline year-on-year in company-wide cashflow for the three months to the end of March to $144.4 million. The firm purportedly moreover experienced a near 19% decrease in first-quarter Las Vegas net revenues alongside a similar 14% diminution for its nine-strong Midwest estate.

Rapid response:

Keith Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer for Boyd, reportedly told investors that his firm has reacted to the shutdown by furloughing almost all of its 25,000-strong workforce and instituting a range of management pay cuts. He purportedly detailed that the operator is now spending more than $3 million every day to cover costs and has additionally utilized $670 million in credit so as to give it $831.2 million in total liquidity.

Smith reportedly stated…

“At first, these closures were meant to be short-lived. But as the full extent of the crisis became apparent, stay-at-home orders were extended across the country.”

Operator optimism:

As to when Boyd may be permitted to start re-opening its casinos and Smith reportedly proclaimed that he hopes this process can begin as soon as next month although individual states will more than likely institute ‘their own specific health and safety guidelines.’

Reportedly read a statement from Smith…

“We do not know when we will be permitted to resume operations and bring our team members back to work. We are currently working with state and local officials across the country to gain a better understanding of when we will be able to re-open and what re-openings might look like.”