Trump reports wider loss

Regional slots competition and heavy promotional spending took their toll on casino operator Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., of Atlantic City. The company said yesterday that fourth-quarter and year-end losses had widened on declining revenue.

"We're down, but not as much as we could be," Mark Juliano, chief executive officer of Trump Entertainment, said after the company's conference call with analysts yesterday.

Trump Entertainment reported a fourth-quarter loss of $183.2 million, or $5.89 a share, on revenue of $228.6 million. That compared with a loss of $9.7 million, or 31 cents a share, on revenue of $244.2 million for the same period a year earlier.

Juliano said the loss was wholly related to a write-down of the company's assets last year.

"It really is a noncash adjustment of the book value of the assets of the company," he said. "It's a fairly standard accounting procedure and does not really have anything to do with income or liquidity. It really has no relationship to the performance of the company."

Company shares slumped 7.03 percent, or 26 cents, to close at $3.44 in Nasdaq trading.

For all of 2007, the company lost $198.2 million, or $6.38 a share, on revenue of $988.2 million. That compared with 2006's loss of $18.5 million, or 60 cents a share, on revenue of $1.03 billion.

"We are really actually happy with the performance of the company relative to the marketplace," Juliano said. "There is a direct relationship to the improvements we have made, including the renovation of the casino floor at the Taj, the new suites at the Taj, and new slots inventory at the Marina and the Taj."

The casino company is headed by developer Donald J. Trump and operates the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Marina and Trump Plaza casinos in Atlantic City.

Net revenue for Trump's combined properties decreased 6.4 percent, to $228.6 million for the quarter, from $244.2 million the previous year.

The Trump casinos, two of which date back to the mid-1980s, have been on the market for more than a year. At least one deal to sell the properties fell apart last summer between Trump and a partnership composed of former Trump Taj Mahal executive Dennis Gomes and New York real estate magnate Morris Bailey.

The amount of debt on the casinos, particularly the Taj Mahal, has been an ongoing concern among prospective buyers.

Trump Entertainment ended the fourth quarter with about $1.6 billion in debt and unrestricted cash of $121.3 million.

Juliano said yesterday that he did not believe the tight credit market would discourage buyers.

"Fortunately, we don't need the credit markets for ourselves - either for the completion of the Taj tower or for our ongoing renovations," he said. "As far as anyone looking to making an investment in one of the assets, it's not that big of a number, relatively speaking.

"We're not talking about a multibillion deal to get financing for," Juliano said. "It's still doable even in a bad credit market."

Like the other gambling halls in Atlantic City, the Trump casinos have seen falling revenue during the last year because of new slots competition from Pennsylvania and Yonkers in New York.

On a property basis, all three casinos reported negative growth.

The Trump Taj Mahal generated net revenue for the fourth quarter of $112.2 million, down 6.2 percent from $119.6 million; Trump Plaza had net revenue of $61.7 million, down 8.6 percent from $67.5 million; and Trump Marina reported net revenue at $54.7 million, down 4.2 percent from $57.1 million.

As part of its strategy to broaden its clientele and stem the revenue loss, the Taj Mahal - Trump's flagship casino and the facility where most of the heavy investments were made last year - will debut a new $255 million, 40-story hotel tower this summer with 786 rooms.