Penn National reports 1Q earnings increase

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

Penn National Gaming Inc., the company that operates Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Austintown, reported a 15.5 percent year-over-year increase in earnings for the first quarter.

Adjusted earnings for the gaming company were $212.9 million, up from $184.4 million reported in the first quarter of 2015.

Timothy J. Wilmott, president and CEO of Penn National, said the year-over-year increase in 2016 first- quarter adjusted earnings exceeded the company’s expectations because of “continued progress in driving operating efficiencies and margins combined with meaningful contributions from our expansion initiatives over the last year, including Plainridge Park Casino, Tropicana Las Vegas and Prairie State Gaming.”

Unadjusted net revenues were $756.5 million in the first quarter of 2016 compared with $664.1 million earned in the first quarter of 2015.

Wyomissing, Pa.-based Penn National Gaming operates 27 facilities in 17 jurisdictions, including Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and Ontario.

Penn opened its Austintown location, which includes video lottery terminals or slot machines and a 1-mile thoroughbred racetrack, in the fall of 2014.

In the company’s East/Midwest segment, which includes Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, adjusted earnings were $134.7 million, up from $116.4 million reported in the first quarter of 2015.

Wilmott said the growth in the East/Midwest segment reflects year-over-year revenue and adjusted earnings improvements at all four of the company’s Ohio properties and led to an overall 15.7 percent increase in earnings.