Advertisement

Outlook Is Dicey on Trump Casinos, Auditor Warns

Share via
Times Staff Writers

The most beautiful, fantastic, stupendous casino chain in the world -- as Donald Trump might describe it -- could be in danger of crapping out.

In a regulatory filing Tuesday, the auditor of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. said a heap of debt had made it difficult for the company to remodel its casinos and woo more gamblers. Those conditions “raise substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” Ernst & Young said.

Trump Hotels, which isn’t related to Trump’s New York real estate business, has lost money for eight years, including an $87.3-million spanking in 2003.

Advertisement

The Atlantic City, N.J., company is trying to complete a recapitalization by mid-summer that would allow it to upgrade and expand, said Scott Butera, a Trump Hotels executive vice president. The key: An affiliate of Credit Suisse First Boston would invest $400 million in the company but only if bondholders accept less than face value for $1.8 billion in debt they hold.

“Hopefully, the plan will resolve a lot of issues raised” by the auditors, Butera said.

For all of Trump Hotels’ troubles, the 57-year-old mogul himself has been enjoying a winning streak on his NBC TV reality series “The Apprentice.”

The top 10 show -- which pits job applicants against one another for a chance to work for Trump -- unfolded last week at the flagship Trump Taj Mahal and set a series record of nearly 23 million viewers.

Advertisement

Given that, Trump Hotels’ financial woes are “not an issue for us,” said Jeff Zucker, president of NBC’s Entertainment, News and Cable Group.

Advertisement