New Jersey Casinos' $146M In Q2 Gross Profit Down From 2022
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The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported Wednesday that all nine Atlantic City casinos and three online casino licensees reported gross profits for the second quarter of this year, but the combined $146 million was down 20.5% compared to the same period last year.
The figure is $37.6 million lower than Q2 2022, as five of eight venues had year-over-year declines while finishing in the black. Golden Nugget Online Gaming surrendered its online license in the second quarter of last year as part of a restructuring by Golden Nugget to have all of its gaming disciplines under one licensee, making year-over-year comparisons incalculable.
Bally’s made it a clean sweep of operators to turn a profit compared to last year, reporting $1.8 million in gross profit after finishing with a loss of $3.8 million in 2022. That 148.8% swing to the positive was the highest of all nine venues, though Ocean Resort had the biggest gains in terms of dollars. Its $23.9 million in gross profit from the last three months was up 53.6% and an increase of nearly $8.3 million.
A key reason year-over-year profits were down was increased labor costs. The casinos and unions reached agreements on four-year labor deals in June and July of last year that included significant pay raises to try and keep wages at pace with inflation.
Gaming revenue profits totaled $281.4 million for the first six months of the year, down 17.9% versus the first half of 2022.
Borgata tops in revenue, but expenses climb
The Borgata led all Atlantic City casinos in net revenue last quarter with $190 million. That was up 1.7% from 2022, but its $12.3 million in gross profit was down 70.8% compared to last year — the steepest decline of any venue.
The casino’s expenses soared 30.7% against 2022 to $341.8 million, with general and administrative costs accounting for more than half that total at $178.3 million. That specific outlay was up 48.3% compared to last year.
Hard Rock paced all operators in gross profit for the second quarter at $30.5 million, 20% lower than 2022. Its $138 million in net revenue was a 14% decline year-over-year, but much of that came via casino gaming, as that revenue plunged 25.4% to $120.8 million. Its expenses actually declined by 7% to $210 million for the quarter, compared to $225.9 million in 2022.
Ocean Resort had the biggest jump in Q2 net casino revenue, spiking 23% to $116.6 million and rounding out the list of venues that surpassed $100 million in quarterly net gaming revenue. Ocean’s costs and expenses increased only 18.6% for the previous three months compared to 2022, which was mostly absorbed by the 18.4% increase in revenue generated by occupied hotel rooms.
Caesars was the last of the three venues to post a gain in gross profits for the second quarter, reporting an 8.3% increase to $15.3 million. Net casino revenue improved 4.4% to $64.9 million, but there was also a 28.8% rise in food and beverage net revenue to $26.4 million and a 14.3% decline in general administrative and other costs to $28.5 million.
Net operator revenue for the second quarter totaled nearly $819 million, down 1.2% versus 2022. That ate into the year-to-date revenue increase — the nearly $1.58 billion generated in the first six months represents a 1.5% increase compared to last year. The Borgata’s $376.9 million led all venues and was 7.8% higher than the first six months of 2022.
