Bally’s Raises Earnings Guidance
Business is booming: Bally’s Corporation has increased its full-year adjusted EBITDAR (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and restructuring or rent costs) guidance following growth in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year, citing “strong” growth across all of its divisions, with Casino & Resorts performing especially well, where revenue reached new record highs.
Bally’s Corporation has increased its full year adjusted EBITDAR guidance following “strong” growth reports experienced in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year.©Pexels/Pixabay
Bally’s Performing Especially Well in its North American Interactive Segment
The future is bright: Bally’s Corporation has announced that it is increasing its full year adjusted EBITDAR guidance after it reported significant growth during the first quarter of the 2023 financial year. For those unfamiliar with the terminology, EBITDAR stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and restructuring or rent costs.
In its latest financial report, the renowned operator showcased “strong” growth in all of its major divisions, with its Casino & Resorts segment performing particularly well. Revenue generated from this vertical in fact reached all-time record-highs.
Bally’s also took the opportunity to celebrate progress made within its North America Interactive segment. It capped its report off by noting that its recent deal with Kambi Group and White Hat Gaming, thanks to which the two operators will power Bally’s sports betting services, will naturally also boost the company’s long-term growth.
Bally’s Says it has Significantly Outperformed in North American Market Compared Thanks to Cost-Saving Initiatives
Expanding on its quarterly earnings and revenue report was Bally’s chief executive Robeson Reeves, who also highlighted the strong performance of its Casinos & Resorts segment, while also revealing that its North America Interactive division did particularly well due to certain cost-saving measures implemented by the operator:
“We are pleased to have achieved strong results across all three of our segments, Casinos & Resorts, International Interactive and North America Interactive. Notably, our Casinos & Resorts segment saw continued momentum across the portfolio. In addition, North America Interactive significantly outperformed as cost-savings initiatives took hold faster than anticipated. We continue to be igaming first and are executing extremely well in New Jersey where our market share surpassed 4%, well on our way to achieving our 6-8% longer term goal.”– Robeson Reeves, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bally’s Corporation,Earnings Report
Reeves also evoked Bally’s recent partnership with Kambi and White Hat Gaming, revealing that it will result in the relaunch of the beloved Bally Bet brand:
“We are also excited about our recently announced partnerships with Kambi and White Hat Gaming to support our relaunch of Bally Bet, our online sports betting platform, fulfilling our promise to partner with best-in-class technology providers to get this business back up and running in an effective and efficient manner.”
Finally, George Papanier, Bally’s President, went into greater detail about the expected growth of the operator’s Casinos & Resorts division, dwelling in particular on the still in-progress Bally’s Chicago flagship megacomplex project:
“Importantly, our portfolio’s near-term capex cycle has peaked for our Casinos & Resorts segment as several of our growth projects have come to or are nearing completion. This includes an upgrade of our flagship Bally’s Twin River in Rhode Island, which was completed in April, and our Kansas City expansion that will conclude in July. We look forward to the opening of the Chicago temporary casino in late summer 2023, which is on track and on budget. We are also advancing the full build of our Bally’s Chicago permanent facility, which is slightly ahead of schedule and on budget for opening in the summer of 2026. There is significant consumer demand for this project, and we couldn’t be more excited to begin producing results.”– George Papanier, President, Bally’s Corporation,Earnings Report
Bally’s Reported €425.5 Million Net Loss During 2022 Financial Year
In more recent Bally’s developments, some less positive news arrived from the operator as recently as March 2023, when it unveiled a net loss of $425.5 million it saw during its 2022 financial year, largely as a result of impairment charges.
Despite the slightly unpleasant news, the casino and sportsbook giant was still able to report a 70.7% increase in overall revenue, which likely paved the way for the recent raise of its earnings guidance. Investors’ and stakeholders’ concerns were likely assuaged ahead of time thanks to Bally’s choosing to pre-empt the news and already admit that it was likely it would experience a sizeable net loss for the 12 months to December 31st, 2022 due to accumulating impairment charges.
Bally’s CEO Robeson Reeves still talked up the operator’s strong overall performance and promise for the future in a shared statement, while also reminding that it continues to explore the online casino market:
“As previously reported in our preliminary release of these financial results, we are pleased to have achieved record results in both our casinos and resorts and international interactive segments. Our core businesses continue to generate fantastic cash flows. UK revenue grew 12% organically in the fourth quarter as regulations continue to play through, while in December, Asia saw positive year-over-year organic growth, proving that our initiatives to maintain a competitive advantage in that market are effective. We remain committed to taking a deep dive approach in North America to ensure that investments we make in sports have a near-term path to profitability. In icasino states, we’ve increased our market share in both New Jersey and Ontario as we integrate this business in a scalable way.”
New CEO Entered the Fold at Bally’s in February 2023
Speaking of Reeves, the former president of interactive at Bally’s only became the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) as recently as February 2023, when former chief executive Lee Fenton announced that he would be stepping down.
Reeves has spent quite a bit of time already in the Bally’s family, having joined its subsidiary Gamesys all the way back in 2005. He went on to become the company’s chief operating officer (COO) and director of gaming operations. Reeves’ tenure as Bally’s CEO began on March 31st, 2023.
Outgoing CEO Lee Fenton celebrated the unique aspects of working at such a renowned operator as Bally’s:
“Bally’s is an extraordinary business with extraordinary people, and I want to thank each and every one of them for the support they have shown me and the commitment they continue to bring to the business. It is particularly special for me to be able to hand the reigns to Robeson with whom I have worked for over 14 years. Robeson is a unique talent and the time is right for him to lead Bally’s.”
