Sands widening its sights for its next acquisitions

The Sands Regency management is thinking ahead.

Buoyed by profits in the quarter ended Sept.

30, which included modest returns from newly acquired Depot Casino and Red Hawk Sports Bar in Dayton, the Reno-based casinohotel company said last week that it is looking at potential additional acquisitions.

And unlike previous acquisitions by the company, the targets are not just smaller and medium-sized companies in the northern Nevada market.

The company is looking farther afield.

The Sands Regency is keeping a close eye on southern Nevada, particularly in the residential areas close to Las Vegas and Henderson.

It's looking, too, at areas such as Pahrump or Mesquite, said Ferenc Szony, president and chief executive officer, during a conference call with investors.

"We're open and continue to look at opportunities there as well as other markets such as the Colorado market and others where we think that our particular style of operation could perform well in."

The first quarter revenue from the Dayton operations, the acquisitions of which were finalized Sep.1, was $363,000 with operating expenses of $92,000.

As Dayton continues to be one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, the company has high expectations for the future of these two operations.

It plans to invest $2 million into the Depot Casino that would include improving the slot product, implementing the player tracking and ticketing systems and renovating the existing restaurant.

Among the company's other properties, Rail City recorded $6.1 million in quarterly net revenue, up 0.8 percent year over year.

"For a customer base consisting of entirely local area residents Rail City does not have exposure to anything that might affect tourist traffic and is less prone to weather-related affects that could impact sales of Gold Ranch properties," said Cory Klerk, chief financial officer.

Gold Ranch, the company's property at Verdi, reported an increase in revenue but decline in income from operations compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2005.

The net revenue was $8.1 million, up 19.1 percent from $6.8 million in the prior year quarter.

But income from operations at Gold Ranch decreased 28.5 percent year over year from $670,000 to $486,000.

"Given the usual negative impact of significantly higher gas prices, we believe the customer promotions and a clear trafficking and rewarding systems installed in gaming helped us to achieve revenue gain," Klerk added.

The Sands Regency revenue for the same quarter was $9.6 million versus $9 million for the prior year first quarter, an increase of 6.1 percent.

Room occupancy at the downtown property increased from 69.9 in last year's first quarter percent to 70.6 percent in 2006 first quarter.

The consolidated company-wide results for the quarter were a 10.3 percent increase in revenue year over year from $21.9 million to $24.1 million and net income of $1.9 million, a 14.6 percent increase from $1.6 million for the comparable period a year ago.