Boyd fends off Hurricane Harvey to record growth in Q3

Boyd Gaming has revealed year-on-year financial growth in the three months to September 30, despite its properties in certain regions of the US having to deal with the impact of Hurricane Harvey.

Net revenue in the third quarter came in at $587.7m (€505.5m), up 10.5% on the $531.9m posted in the corresponding period last year.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 15% year-on-year to $140.3m, while operating income climbed from $67.9m to $78.7m.

Boyd did record a sharp decline in net income, which dropped from $342.6m to just under $23m in the same period this year, but also noted that discontinued operations for Q3 of 2016 included a $181.7m after-tax gain from the sale of the its 50% equity interest in Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

The third-quarter performance places Boyd in a strong position for the year-to-date, through to the end of September, with net revenue for the nine months up from $1.63bn in 2016 to $1.79bn this year.

Elsewhere, operating income increased from $230.7m to $262.9m and adjusted EBITDA also improved from $397.5m to $447.2m, while net income fell from $405.8m to $107m.

Reflecting on the results, Keith Smith, president and chief executive of Boyd, paid tribute to the company’s performance in the quarter, during which a series of hurricanes hit the US and surrounding regions.

Hurricane Harvey was one of the most deadly to hit the US in recent years, with at least 88 people confirmed dead in the state of Texas alone.

Smith said: “We were pleased with our performance in the third quarter, and the continuation of positive trends throughout the business.

“Our newly acquired properties once again delivered strong growth, and each has achieved double-digit adjusted EBITDA increases during every quarter under our ownership.

“We saw encouraging results throughout our mid-west and south segment, which would have produced year-over-year adjusted EBITDA growth had it not been for disruption from Hurricane Harvey.

“This strong operational performance is further enhancing our free cash flow, allowing us to continue to re-invest in our business, deleverage our balance sheet, and return capital to our shareholders.”

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