Caesars Swings To Q3 Profit, CEO Mark Frissora To Step Down; Stock Up 10%

(RTTNews) - Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CZR) Thursday posted a profit for the third quarter, turning around from a loss last year, as revenues surged. The company also said its CEO Mark Frissora is stepping down after 3 years in role. Shares of the company gained nearly 10 percent in the extended trading session.

The company reported third-quarter profit of $110 million or $0.14 per share, compared with last year's loss of $433 million or $2.90 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report break-even per share for the quarter.

Third-quarter revenues surged to $2.19 billion from $0.99 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.21 billion for the quarter.

The sharp growth in revenue was largely due to the inclusion of the results of CEOC LLC, which emerged from bankruptcy in the fourth quarter of 2017, and the inclusion of the results of Centaur Holdings LLC, which was acquired during the quarter.

"We executed well during the quarter despite a challenging operating environment in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and we are optimistic about the opportunities ahead," said CEO Mark Frissora. "Despite soft demand in Las Vegas during the third quarter, our booking pace is up meaningfully in the fourth quarter and we expect to deliver approximately 4% to 6% adjusted EBITDAR growth for the full year."

The company recently received a proposal from Golden Nugget owner Tilman Fertitta to merge Golden Nugget with significant Caesars. The reverse merger, with Caesars as the acquirer, would exchange stock in a private company owned by Fertitta for shares in Caesars.

Caesars board said it considered the proposal is not consistent with the company's plans to create and enhance shareholder value over the long term.

Separately, Caesars announced that President and CEO Mark Frissora is leaving the company, having led a successful operational and financial transformation and established a platform for future growth. Frissora will remain in his current role until February 8, 2019.

CZR closed Thursday's trading at $8.85, up $0.26 or 3.03% on the NYSE. The stock further gained $0.85 or 9.60% in the after-hours trade.