A big quarter for Big 6

Yesterday I jokingly predicted the cresting of the poker wave, but here’s some evidence that the gambling wave–at least the Las Vegas one–is still building. Read about it, minus the tortured metaphors, from the LVRJ:

The “Big Six” gaming operators are starting 2006 with record-breaking profits, up nearly 45 percent from the first quarter 2005, thanks to surging demand for Las Vegas as a destination, strong table play in casinos and the two biggest mergers in industry history, analysts said this week.

With the major casino companies set to begin reporting first-quarter earnings next week, analysts are predicting that the combined net income for the six largest Nevada-based gaming companies will have surged to $572 million, up 44.8 percent from $395 million in the 2005 first quarter.
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Deutsche Bank analyst Marc Falcone said the earnings forecasts for the first quarter, as well as the remTainder of the year, are on the conservative side because economic fundamentals are proving to be stronger than expected.

“Growth (in the first quarter) was substantial, with regional markets benefiting from the mild winter and Las Vegas getting a boost from increased high-end play,” he said.

The Big Six gaming companies are Boyd Gaming Corp., Harrah’s Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands Corp., MGM Mirage, Station Casinos and Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Penn National, a major gaming company not based in Las Vegas, also enjoyed substantial growth, with first-quarter net income of $46.7 million, up 77.4 percent from $26.3 million a year earlier, analysts said.

The Las Vegas-based Big Six are expected to report combined revenue of $5.9 billion in the first quarter, up 55.7 percent from $3.8 billion a year earlier.

reviewjournal.com — Business - GAMING COMPANY REVENUE: Record profits for ‘Big Six’

They’ve got a really nice graphic with the logos of each company and their revenue info here. I wonder how long it took to put together.

No, you won’t be seeing anything like that in the Gaming Abstract soon.