Century Casinos, Inc., on Friday reported its financial results for its first quarter, the three-month period ending March 31, 2021.
Officials with the Colorado-based operator said in a statement the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has had an adverse effect on its FY 2020 and Q1 2021 results, and the company “expects this situation will continue to have an adverse impact on its results in 2021. The duration and ultimate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic otherwise remains uncertain.”
Century’s properties in Canada have been closed for months, while its casinos in Poland closed most recently on March 20. The Poland properties are expected to reopen on May 8.
The company’s casinos in the United States have been open since June 2020, but have been required to vary their operations based on local health and safety requirements.
With these impediments, Century said its Q1 2021 net operating revenue was $72.4m, a decrease of 17% from Q1 2020.
Net loss attributable to Century Casinos shareholders was $1.4m or $0.05 per share, a change of 97% from the same quarter one year earlier.
On the plus side, earnings from operations and adjusted EBITDA improved. Earnings from operations were $8.2m, up 126% YOY, while EBITDA was $14.7m, an increase of 53%.
Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, Co-CEOs of Century Casinos, said, “We are pleased with the strong adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter, driven almost exclusively by our properties in the US because our properties in Canada were closed for the entire quarter and our casinos in Poland were closed for most of the quarter.”
The negative impact of these closures to adjusted EBITDA was at least $6.7m, Haitzmann and Hoetzinger added.
“For the third quarter in a row, we have been able to achieve high operating margins and we believe that will continue to be attainable. We look forward to the reopening of our casinos in Poland on May 8, our casinos and racetracks reopening in Canada, and to a busy summer season in North America as the pandemic subsides.”
