NEW YORK - NEVADA casinos' win from gamblers fell from year-earlier levels for the ninth consecutive month in September, as the economic slowdown continued to ravage the US gambling industry.
The Nevada decline follows news of a 9.9 per cent drop in revenue at Atlantic City's casinos in October.
The take for Nevada casinos, including Las Vegas, fell roughly $58 million (S$88.1 million) or 5.4 per cent in September from a year earlier to just over US$1 billion, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Casino companies have suffered over the past year as the gambling boom in Las Vegas has fizzled, tight credit markets have jeopardised growth plans and the Chinese government has acted to slow down the Macau gambling market.
The downturn has decimated the stock market value of gambling companies.
Since last December, Las Vegas Sands shares have plummeted from over US$122 to around US$6 on Friday and MGM Mirage stock has fallen from over US$93 to under US$11.
Since last November, Wynn Resorts shares have declined from over US$139 to under US$44 on Friday and the shares of Shuffle Master, which makes gambling tables, card shufflers, slot machines and roulette chip sorters, have dropped from US$14 to around US$3.
'No one is doing well - I would think the next two years are going to be pretty much fighting for survival,' said Mr Sumit Desai, gambling industry analyst at investment research firm Morningstar.
The Dow Jones US Gambling Index has tumbled almost 80 per cent from its lifetime high in October last year, when several years of sharp growth in Las Vegas and Macau, Asia's gambling enclave, started to show signs of faltering.
Down but not out Some of the biggest names in gambling have taken hits during the slowdown.
MGM Mirage, the world's second-largest casino operator and a major holding of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp, last month reported a 67 per cent drop in profit.
MGM, operator of the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and Circus Circus resorts in Las Vegas, has postponed development work for its MGM Grand Atlantic City project.
Trump Entertainment Resorts, chaired by property magnate Donald Trump, and Harrah's Entertainment, the world's biggest gaming operator, reported third-quarter losses.
In the last year, casino operator Tropicana Entertainment filed for bankruptcy and a deal to take Penn National Gaming private fell apart as the sector turned sour.
The most high-profile victim has been Las Vegas Sands, which only last year opened the world's largest casino in Macau. Sands' problems represent a stunning reversal for billionaire chief executive Sheldon Adelson.
Sands has lost roughly 95 per cent of its stock market value over the past 11 months and its auditor said last week there were doubts about the company's ability to continue as a going concern.
In a regulatory filing on Monday, Sands hinted at disagreements in its boardroom, saying its board formed an executive committee to 'address a number of outstanding differences between our chief executive officer and other senior management members'.
Morningstar's Desai said the gambling sector is certainly down - but it should not be counted out.
'Historically, it (gambling) has always been pretty steady, even in nasty downturns - in 2001, they managed OK and actually came out of that roaring,' said Mr Desai. -- REUTERS
