Penn National reports earnings increase, busy 1Q

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

Penn National Gaming Inc., which owns Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Austintown, reported net income of $45.4 million from revenue of $816.1 million during the first quarter of 2018.

In comparison, during the first quarter of 2017 the gaming company reported income of $5.1 million from revenue of $776.2 million.

During the quarter, shareholders of both Penn National and Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. overwhelmingly approved their proposed merger, and the companies secured regulatory approvals, subject to customary conditions, from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Illinois.

“This week and over the coming months, we’ll be appearing before additional regulatory bodies to seek their approvals,” said Timothy J. Wilmott, chief executive officer of Penn, in a statement. “Based on our progress to date, we remain confident of closing the transaction in the second half of this year.”

After the closing of the proposed transaction, Penn National will have greater operational scale and geographic diversity from a combined 41 properties in 20 jurisdictions, including 15 of the top 30 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the U.S.

Also during the quarter, Penn National was the winning bidder for two of Pennsylvania’s new Category 4 “satellite casino” licenses, which were created through the gaming expansion law approved last October.

The licenses allow the company to operate up to 750 slot machines and initially up to 30 table games at each facility in the areas of York County and Berks/Lancaster County.