Mandalay Resort Group's earnings rise

Mandalay Resort Group Inc. stock soared more than 7 percent Thursday amid investor anticipation the company would post higher quarterly earnings.

It did, reporting net income of $28.8 million, or 31 cents a share, for the third quarter ended Oct. 31. The per-share figure met analysts' estimates.

In the year-ago third quarter, Mandalay had net income of $23.7 million, or 25 cents a share.

Revenue rose to $545.2 million in the fiscal 2000 third quarter from $382.5 million a year earlier. The latest quarter's results included contributions from Mandalay Bay, the Strip resort that opened in March.

Fiscal 2000's third-quarter earnings included $2.1 million of pre-opening expenses related to its joint-venture casino project in Detroit. Net also was impacted by a $5.4 million write-off of a proposed time-share resort in Las Vegas Mandalay has decided not to pursue.

In the year-earlier quarter, Mandalay wrote off $5.4 million it spent in an unsuccessful bid to halt passage of Proposition 5 in California. The ballot measure, which voters overwhelmingly approved, allows expansion of Indian gaming in the Golden State.

The company said it generated a record $147.6 million in operating cash flow in the latest quarter, bringing the nine-month total to $425 million. That exceeds the total for any prior fiscal year.

Ironically, though, two company properties generated more cash flow than the $1 billion Mandalay Bay, which posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $27.2 million for the quarter.

The Luxor, just north of Mandalay Bay, produced $27.9 million of EBITDA, while Mandalay's 50 percent owned Grand Victoria riverboat in Elgin, Ill., delivered $30.1 million of cash flow. Mandalay attributed the $10 million cash flow increase at the riverboat to the introduction of dockside gaming last summer, which allows customers to play longer.

Mandalay said its Excalibur hotel-casino generated $22.9 million of EBITDA, while its two Reno operations produced $16.3 million of cash flow. Two Mandalay properties in Laughlin had cash flow totaling $7 million, while its Gold Strike hotel-casino in Mississippi posted $9.3 million of EBITDA.

Mandalay didn't break out cash flow numbers for its Circus Circus Las Vegas property, or its 50 percent stake in the Monte Carlo hotel-casino, a joint venture with Mirage Resorts Inc.

Mandalay stock jumped 7.4 percent Thursday, closing at $22.8125, up $1.5625. Third-quarter results were released after the stock market closed.

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