Penn National Gaming posts record revenue, earnings miss

Regional casino operator Penn National Gaming (PNG) saw its shares tumble last week after failing to meet its own earnings guidance.

On Thursday, PNG delivered its Q4 earnings report, which showed revenue rising 3.5% to $769m in the three months ending December 31, 2017. The revenue figure represents a new company record but adjusted earnings came in at $183.3m, below the $196m earned in Q4 2016 and well below PNG’s guidance of $206m.

All three of PNG’s regional divisions were in positive revenue territory, although the dominant Northeast division was up only 1.5% to just under $384m. The Midwest division improved 3% to $222.2m, while the South/West division was up nearly 12% to $151.5m thanks to the addition of two new Mississippi casinos last March.

The South/West division includes the Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego, which is owned by the Jamul Tribe. PNG booked a $48.5m impairment charge for the quarter due to the tribe currently being in default on its loan obligations and what PNG called the “lack of progress to resolve this issue.”