Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

Posted by Dave

Good news: Macau results, strong F&B at W/ELV

Bad news: continuing weakness in Las Vegas slot handle. I talked about this with KDWN this morning--it's really something that doesn't bode well for the city at large. It's a market-wide problem.

I listened to the call, and as always it was interesting stuff. Steve was relatively restrained in his marks regarding the political situation, although he did touch on the FinReg and health bills. My favorite comment was "you can argue if the glass is half full or half empty, I'm at the point where I hope we don't tip the glass over."

Overall, I thought the comments were positive. I was particularly encouraged that they are starting to see some life in the meetings and convention business.
Also, sounds like all of the WLV room renovations and baccarat renovations will be completed by next spring. My impression was that some of these renovated rooms may already be in service, so it would be interesting to see what types of updates they actually did.

Although the stock traded down $3-4 after-hours yesteday, it actually recovered quite nicely today. I am encouraged by the results in Macau, the re-investment they are making in Las Vegas, and really looking forward to seeing what they have planned for Cotai.

Another writedown on CityCenter. The value must be down to $3-4B by now. Does anyone know what they currently value each component (especially Veer and Vdara)?

Posted by Hunter

According to the LVRJ, CityCenter's book value is now $2.65 billion. Wow.

http://www.lvrj.com/business/mgm-reports-second-quarter-net-loss-of--883-million-99834554.html

Posted by AccessVegas.com

Their quarterly loss was upwards of 1/3 of what CityCenter is currently valued at.

I'll excuse myself. I need to go over and take pictures of the For Sale signs on The Mirage and Mandalay Bay.

I wonder if someone has really analyzed exactly what MGM's options are pertaining to cash flow, the ability to sustain debt, how soon CityCenter would need to catch fire and get higher room rates (perhaps overcoming some of the negative service issues that plagued it and kept people away).

Detroit is justifiably proud of MGM Grand Detroit.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20100803/FREE/100809975

Posted by howardpark

I was at City Center last week. There is some life at Aria but the rest is a ghost town. One can see the money being lost as clearly as you can see the sun setting in the west. Who knows if the Harmon will ever open, Veer is a huge, tall, cool sculpture but might as well be sealed, Vidara was wierdly empty and Crystals is a huge flop and drag on the whole complex. I think the place needs fun -- something to make people smile. It's got style, it needs smiles and there just isn't much of that. Seriously, how about a daily parade of Elvis impersonators? Maybe take some empty space at Crystals and put some vintage video games inside. Let some artists fill some empty spaces. Open a tasteful topless club. Hmmm...its Las Vegas, maybe put in another casino! Do something, anything except more stores with $400 shirts and bored salespeople starved for human contact..