– Revenues Increased 66.4% to $60.0 Million in the Fourth Quarter of 2023;
Annual Revenues Grew 47.6%
– Chamonix Casino Hotel Began Its Phased Opening on December 27, 2023
– Approvals Received to Operate American Place in Its Temporary Configuration Until August 2027
LAS VEGAS, March 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Full House Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLL) today announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2023.
“After several years of construction, we are entering a new phase for our company,” said Daniel R. Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer of Full House Resorts. “We opened two new casinos during 2023: American Place in Waukegan, Illinois, and Chamonix, in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Our first new casino – American Place – celebrated its one-year anniversary a few weeks ago. As expected, it continues to ramp up its operations. In December 2023, American Place reached a new monthly gaming revenue record of $8.2 million, as reported by the Illinois Gaming Board. It subsequently set a new monthly all-time record for revenues in February 2024, despite it being a short month. We expect American Place’s gaming revenues to continue to grow in 2024, with the property’s high-end North Shore Steaks & Seafood now open and overall awareness continuing to improve. American Place is currently in a temporary facility, built in less than one year after being chosen by the Illinois Gaming Board to develop this newly-created license. We recently received the necessary approvals to operate the temporary facility until August 2027, providing us with meaningful additional time before the anticipated opening of the permanent American Place facility.
“On December 27, we welcomed guests to our newest casino, Chamonix Casino Hotel in Cripple Creek, Colorado, which is less than one hour from Colorado Springs and approximately two hours from Denver. By design, it was a soft opening, with the casino, meeting rooms, and approximately 40% of the property’s guest rooms initially open. Over the past few weeks, we have continued the rollout of the property’s amenities, including completion of the destination’s remaining hotel rooms and its parking garage. We are currently putting the finishing touches on 980 Prime, Chamonix’s high-end steakhouse led by famed chef Barry Dakake. We expect it to open in late March. Chamonix was designed to be the most beautiful casino in the state of Colorado, and we look forward to the completion of all of its amenities over the next few months.”
On a consolidated basis, revenues in the fourth quarter of 2023 were $60.0 million, a 66.4% increase from $36.1 million in the prior-year period. These results primarily reflect the February 2023 opening of American Place. Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $12.5 million, or $(0.36) per diluted common share, which includes $3.1 million of preopening and development costs, primarily related to the phased opening of our Chamonix project, and significant depreciation and amortization charges related to the temporary American Place facility. In the prior-year period, net loss was $7.0 million, or $(0.20) per diluted common share, reflecting $4.8 million of preopening and development costs. Adjusted EBITDA(a) rose 87.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023 to $7.3 million, compared to $3.9 million in the prior-year period.
For the full year, revenues in 2023 were $241.1 million, a 47.6% increase from $163.3 million in the prior year. These results reflect the February 2023 opening of American Place, as well as $5.8 million of accelerated revenue under two of our sports wagering agreements with third-party operators that ceased operations during the third quarter of 2023. Net loss in 2023 was $24.9 million, or $(0.72) per diluted common share, which includes $15.7 million of preopening and development costs, primarily related to our Chamonix construction project, and significant depreciation and amortization charges related to the temporary American Place facility. For 2022, net loss was $14.8 million, or $(0.43) per diluted common share, reflecting $9.8 million of preopening and development costs. Adjusted EBITDA was $48.6 million in 2023, rising 51.1% from $32.1 million in the prior-year period, reflecting the items mentioned above.
“Our Company recently reached an inflection point,” noted Mr. Lee. “In 2023, our total cash interest expense was approximately $38.4 million and Adjusted EBITDA, as noted, was $48.6 million, despite construction disruptions in Colorado and the gradual ramp-up of operations at American Place. Our debt during that period included substantially all of the funding for Chamonix, which did not open until year-end. While some construction continues at Chamonix, the bulk of our capital expenditures for these projects is behind us. This fact, along with expected future earnings from these new facilities, should result in the generation of significant free cash flow over the next few years. Also, recognize that we continue to have significant tax-loss carryforwards and we benefit, for tax purposes, from accelerated depreciation related to our new developments.”
Added Mr. Lee, “Regarding American Place, the State of Illinois recently passed legislation allowing us to operate our temporary facility until August 2027. This was because a tribal entity that operates a competing casino in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit against the City of Waukegan and the Illinois Gaming Board, alleging that the tribe was not provided due consideration in its effort to obtain the Waukegan gaming license. We were chosen for that license after a robust public process, whereby an independent consultant hired by the City of Waukegan rated the tribal proposal as being inferior in most respects to all four of the other proposals, including that of Full House Resorts. We believe the lawsuit is without merit. The City and the Illinois Gaming Board have sought review of the dispute by the Illinois Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear the case. We anticipate a ruling by that court by early 2025.”
Concluded Mr. Lee, “We estimate that construction of the permanent American Place facility will require approximately two years, with a significant portion of the project’s capital expenditures not expected until the second half of 2026 and during 2027. We believe that the Company’s operating cash flows should be able to fund significant portions of the construction cost for the permanent American Place facility between now and its anticipated opening in 2027. For the remaining balance, we remain highly confident in our ability to fund it entirely in the debt capital markets at the appropriate time.”
Fourth Quarter Highlights and Subsequent Events
Midwest & South. This segment includes Silver Slipper Casino and Hotel, Rising Star Casino Resort, and American Place. Revenues for the segment were $49.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, a 78.8% increase from $27.5 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted Segment EBITDA rose to $7.2 million, a 57.9% increase from $4.6 million in the prior-year period. These results reflect the February 17, 2023 opening of American Place, our casino located in Waukegan, Illinois. In the fourth quarter of 2023, American Place generated $22.4 million of revenue and $3.9 million of Adjusted Property EBITDA. American Place’s results reflect some winter seasonality, as well as elevated marketing expenses related to a marketing campaign that is expected to benefit the casino in the longer-run.
For the full year, this segment similarly benefited from the opening of American Place in February 2023. Revenues increased 60.4% from $120.0 million to $192.4 million, and Adjusted Segment EBITDA grew 48.0% from $26.4 million to $39.0 million. Of such amount, American Place contributed $77.0 million and $18.4 million to the segment’s revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA, respectively.
West. This segment includes Grand Lodge Casino (located within the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe resort in Incline Village), Stockman’s Casino, Bronco Billy’s Casino and Hotel, and Chamonix Casino Hotel, which opened on December 27, 2023. Revenues for the segment rose 14.0% to $8.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, versus $7.5 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted Segment EBITDA of $(0.1) million in the fourth quarter of 2023 compares to $(0.3) million in the prior-year period. Results in both periods reflect the temporary loss of all on-site parking and on-site hotel rooms at Bronco Billy’s to accommodate the construction of neighboring Chamonix. With Chamonix now open, Bronco Billy’s is benefiting from its integration with Chamonix, including its new parking garage and approximately 300 on-site guest rooms.
For the year, revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA were $35.9 million and $2.4 million in 2023, respectively. In 2022, such amounts were $36.1 million and $4.2 million, respectively. As noted above, construction-related disruptions at Bronco Billy’s are expected to dissipate in 2024 with the return of on-site guest rooms and on-site parking.
Contracted Sports Wagering. This segment consists of our on-site and online sports wagering “skins” (akin to websites) in Colorado, Indiana, and Illinois. Revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2023 were $2.3 million and $1.3 million, respectively. These results reflect the contractual launch of our permitted Illinois sports skin in August 2023, as well as a provision for credit losses on sports wagering receivables of $1.0 million, which negatively affected Adjusted Segment EBITDA. For the fourth quarter of 2022, both revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA were $1.1 million.
For the year, this segment’s revenues grew 78.1%, from $7.2 million in 2022 to $12.8 million in 2023, and Adjusted Segment EBITDA rose 63.6%, from $7.1 million to $11.7 million. Results for 2022 reflect the acceleration of revenues under two of our sports wagering agreements with third-party operators that ceased operations in May 2022. In 2023, results increased due to the launch of our Illinois sports skin noted above, the launch of a replacement operator in Colorado in March 2023, and accelerated revenues related to two other sports wagering agreements with operators that ceased operations during the third quarter of 2023. Additionally, the $1.0 million provision for credit losses, as mentioned, negatively affected Adjusted Segment EBITDA during 2023.
The Company is currently permitted to operate three sports skins in Colorado, three in Indiana, and one in Illinois. Of such permitted skins, two sports skins are currently live in Colorado, one in Indiana, and one in Illinois. Under our agreements with various third parties to operate such skins, we receive a percentage of revenues, as defined in the contracts, subject to an annualized minimum amount that currently totals $8 million. We continue to evaluate whether to operate our remaining idle skins ourselves or to have other third parties operate them. However, there is no certainty that we will be able to enter into agreements with replacement operators or successfully operate the skins ourselves.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2023, we had $73.8 million in cash and cash equivalents, including $37.6 million of cash reserved under our bond indentures to complete the construction of Chamonix. Our debt consisted primarily of $450.0 million in outstanding senior secured notes due 2028, which became callable at specified premiums in February 2024, and $27.0 million outstanding under our revolving credit facility.
Conference Call Information
We will host a conference call for investors today, March 5, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT) to discuss our 2023 fourth quarter results. Investors can access the live audio webcast from our website at www.fullhouseresorts.com under the investor relations section. The conference call can also be accessed by dialing (201) 689-8470.
A replay of the conference call will be available shortly after the conclusion of the call through March 19, 2024. To access the replay, please visit www.fullhouseresorts.com. Investors can also access the replay by dialing (412) 317-6671 and using the passcode 13744400.
(a) Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Our presentation of non-GAAP Measures may be different from the presentation used by other companies, and therefore, comparability may be limited. While excluded from certain non-GAAP Measures, depreciation and amortization expense, interest expense, income taxes and other items have been and will be incurred. Each of these items should also be considered in the overall evaluation of our results. Additionally, our non-GAAP Measures do not consider capital expenditures and other investing activities and should not be considered as a measure of our liquidity. We compensate for these limitations by providing the relevant disclosure of our depreciation and amortization, interest and income taxes, and other items both in our reconciliations to the historical GAAP financial measures and in our consolidated financial statements, all of which should be considered when evaluating our performance.
Our non-GAAP Measures are to be used in addition to, and in conjunction with, results presented in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP Measures should not be considered as an alternative to net income, operating income, or any other operating performance measure prescribed by GAAP, nor should these measures be relied upon to the exclusion of GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP Measures reflect additional ways of viewing our operations that we believe, when viewed with our GAAP results and the reconciliations to the corresponding historical GAAP financial measures, provide a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business than could be obtained absent this disclosure. Management strongly encourages investors to review our financial information in its entirety and not to rely on a single financial measure.
Adjusted Segment EBITDA. We utilize Adjusted Segment EBITDA as the measure of segment profitability in assessing performance and allocating resources at the reportable segment level. Adjusted Segment EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest and other non-operating income (expense), taxes, depreciation and amortization, preopening expenses, certain impairment charges, asset write-offs, recoveries, gain (loss) from asset disposals, project development and acquisition costs, non-cash share-based compensation expense, and corporate-related costs and expenses that are not allocated to each segment.
Same-store Adjusted Segment EBITDA. Same-store Adjusted Segment EBITDA is Adjusted Segment EBITDA further adjusted to exclude the Adjusted Property EBITDA of properties that have not been in operation for a full year. Adjusted Property EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest and other non-operating income (expense), taxes, depreciation and amortization, preopening expenses, certain impairment charges, asset write-offs, recoveries, gain (loss) from asset disposals, project development and acquisition costs, non-cash share-based compensation expense, and corporate-related costs and expenses that are not allocated to each property.
Adjusted EBITDA. We also utilize Adjusted EBITDA, which is defined as Adjusted Segment EBITDA, net of corporate-related costs and expenses. Although Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of performance or liquidity calculated in accordance with GAAP, we believe this non-GAAP financial measure provides meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance and liquidity. We utilize this metric or measure internally to focus management on year-over-year changes in core operating performance, which we consider our ordinary, ongoing and customary operations, and which we believe is useful information to investors. Accordingly, management excludes certain items when analyzing core operating performance, such as the items mentioned above, that management believes are not reflective of ordinary, ongoing and customary operations.
Full House Resorts, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share data)
Three Months Ended
Year Ended
December 31,
December 31,
2023
2022
2023
2022
Revenues
Casino
$
45,347
$
25,583
$
176,933
$
113,876
Food and beverage
8,561
6,239
33,980
26,494
Hotel
2,376
2,206
9,428
9,282
Other operations, including contracted sports wagering
3,745
2,054
20,719
13,629
60,029
36,082
241,060
163,281
Operating costs and expenses
Casino
18,290
9,515
68,061
39,788
Food and beverage
8,425
6,238
33,240
26,372
Hotel
1,229
1,282
4,840
4,806
Other operations
1,620
574
3,498
2,168
Selling, general and administrative
23,923
14,911
85,746
59,706
Project development costs, net
8
195
53
228
Preopening costs
3,051
4,644
15,685
9,558
Depreciation and amortization
8,610
1,918
31,092
7,930
Loss on disposal of assets
—
39
7
42
65,156
39,316
242,222
150,598
Operating (loss) income
(5,127
)
(3,234
)
(1,162
)
12,683
Other (expense) income
Interest expense, net
(6,658
)
(3,763
)
(22,977
)
(22,988
)
Loss on modification of debt
—
—
—
(4,530
)
Gain on settlements
—
—
384
—
(6,658
)
(3,763
)
(22,593
)
(27,518
)
Loss before income taxes
(11,785
)
(6,997
)
(23,755
)
(14,835
)
Income tax expense (benefit)
697
(15
)
1,149
(31
)
Net loss
$
(12,482
)
$
(6,982
)
$
(24,904
)
$
(14,804
)
Basic loss per share
$
(0.36
)
$
(0.20
)
$
(0.72
)
$
(0.43
)
Diluted loss per share
$
(0.36
)
$
(0.20
)
$
(0.72
)
$
(0.43
)
Basic weighted average number of common shares outstanding
34,588
34,401
34,520
34,355
Diluted weighted average number of common shares outstanding
34,588
34,401
34,520
34,355
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