MGM Resorts International ended 2013 on an upbeat note and chairman Jim Murren told investors on Wednesday that 2014 is off to an equally good beginning.
The company, which operates 10 resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, said it reduced its fourth-quarter net loss while growing revenue 9.5 per cent during the three-month period that ended on December 31.
Murren called 2013, in which MGM Resorts grew revenue seven per cent to $9.8bn, the company’s “best operating performance since the recession.”
He said the company expects a 10 per cent growth in revenue per available hotel room during the first three months of 2014, based on a busy Chinese New Year and an improving convention business. “The quality of the business is also improving, with higher-paying customers and higher banquet and catering costs,” Murren said. The company is expanding in Las Vegas, but not adding new hotel-casinos. A remodel of The Hotel next to Mandalay Bay into the Delano Las Vegas is expected to be completed by September.
A retail, dining and entertainment district between New York-New York and Monte Carlo and a redevelopment of the casinos’ Strip frontage areas are expected to be completed by the summer.
Work is also progressing on a $350m sports arena behind New York-New York in partnership with sports and entertainment promoter AEG. The arena is expected to open in 2016.
The opening of projects from other operators, including the redeveloped SLS Las Vegas in September and the $550m Linq development this month, would allow MGM Resorts to continue its upward climb in Las Vegas, Murren said.
