Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008 | 3:25 p.m.
Riviera Holdings Corp., which owns the Riviera casinos in Las Vegas and Colorado, reported a 15 percent decline in revenue and a 33 percent decline in operating earnings, before certain items. Revenue fell, year over year, in every department.
And executives are none too happy about it.
Riviera Chief Executive Bill Westerman called the second quarter a “perfect storm” of economic troubles for the company, including high fuel prices, an accelerating consumer downturn and a decrease in walk-in traffic at its Las Vegas casino partly because of “disruptive” construction projects nearby.
“We are very disappointed in our results and the entire Riviera team is focused on the company’s financial performance,” Westerman said during a conference call to discuss earnings. While the declines are in line with other companies, Westerman called them “unacceptable” and said the company will implement new marketing programs and continue to aggressively cut costs.
In Las Vegas, the convention market remained strong but the leisure market fell dramatically as the property slashed room rates to remain competitive, said Bob Vannucci, president and chief operating officer of the Riviera in Las Vegas. Declines in June accounted for more than half of the company’s earnings decline in the second quarter, he said.
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