Profit Nearly Doubles at Circus Circus

Circus Circus Enterprises Inc.’s profit nearly doubled in its first fiscal quarter as the company opened its new Mandalay Bay casino resort in Las Vegas. Profit from operations in the quarter ended April 30 rose to 43 cents a diluted share from 23 cents a year earlier. The profit excludes noncash charges from opening new casinos. The result topped the average estimate of 40 cents from analysts polled by First Call Corp. Revenue rose 32% to $471.3 million. Mandalay Bay generated $22.6 million in operating cash flow in the 59 days of the quarter it was opened. It also helped create a boom in tourism to Las Vegas that brought higher cash flows to Circus Circus’ Luxor, Excalibur and Circus Circus Las Vegas properties. Operating cash flow is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The Las Vegas-based company didn’t list all of the charges or gains it excluded from profit from operations, although it did say it had charges of $67.4 million for the cost of opening new casinos. After the charges, Circus Circus said it had a net loss of $4.9 million, or 5 cents a share. Its shares closed unchanged at $24 on the New York Stock Exchange.