On Friday, Colorado Springs, Colorado-based gaming company, Century Casinos Inc., reported that its 2015 profits increased by more than nine times compared with 2014. The company attributes the hike in part to better results from its Polish casinos and the opening of its new casino and horse track in Canada.
Last year, Century earned $11.9 million, or .49 cents per share, and increase from 2014’s $1.23 million, or .05 cents a share. During the same period, revenue rose 12 percent to $134.4 million. The Century Downs Racetrack and Casino, which opened in May, in Calgary, provided about half of the profit increase, with another third resulting from earnings doubling at the company’s nine casinos in Poland. Century earned $739,000, or .03 cents a share, during the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $130,000, or .01 cent share, a year earlier. Revenue increased 4.4 percent to $32.6 million.
During a conference call on Friday with stock analysts, Century’s president and co-CEO, Peter Hoetzinger, said, “The combination of revenue growth and cost efficiencies allowed us to produce very strong flow through and increased profitability,” as reported by The Gazette. Hoetzinger also said that he was “pretty confident” that later this year the company would be announcing plans for a casino in southeast Asia, as well as, considering acquisitions in Canada. Also on Century’s to-do list is spending up to $1.5 million for a private gaming room in its Edmonton casino.
Fourth quarter revenue and earnings and all of 2015 underperformed the average forecast by a trio of analysts who follow Century’s stock. The result was felt during heavy trading on Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market when the company’s shares (CNTY) fell .42 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $6.82.
Along with its operations in Poland and Canada, Century also owns casinos in Central City and Cripple Creek and operates casinos on 10 cruise ships for Oceania, TUI, Windstar, and Regent Seven Seas. The company also provides consulting services to a casino in Argentina and manages a casino at the Radisson Aruba.