Online gaming the star of Caesars Entertainment’s byzantine Q1 report

Casino operator Caesars Entertainment’s Q1 revenue rose more than one-fifth thanks to its online operations and contributions from new venues like Horseshoe Baltimore.

Caesars’ figures are increasingly indecipherable, given the deconsolidation of its main unit Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. (CEOC) following its January 15 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. As a result, CEOC’s earnings after that date aren’t included in the Q1 results, making this a year-on-year comparison of apples to apple cores.

Instead, Caesars chose to focus on its “continuing” Caesars Entertainment Corporation (CEC) operations, including the Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE) social/mobile/real-money online gaming operations, Caesars Growth Partners’ (CGP) casinos and the Caesars Entertainment Resort Properties (CERP) division. To which we say, LOL, WTF and GTFO.

For what it’s worth, total continuing CEC revenue in the three months ending March 31 came to just under $1.1b, up 21% from Q1 2014. CGP casinos rose 33.5% to $390m, CERP revenue was up 7.5% to $529m and CIE was up 42.2% to $177m.