Monarch's revenue, net increase

Atlantis Casino Resort Spa sharply boosted revenues from its hotel operations during the second quarter, and it managed to drop all of the increase to its bottom line.

The property's publicly held parent, Monarch Casino & Resort, reported last week that it earned $2.66 million during the second quarter compared with a net of $1.8 million a year earlier. Revenues were up by 4.9 percent to $36.2 million during the most recent quarter.

Revenue from the approximately 1,000 rooms at the Atlantis rose by 13.5 percent. Better yet, hotel operating costs were down 2 percent from a year earlier.

That operating profit helped offset some of the pain of rising costs for the comps provided by Atlantis to its best casino customers.

Revenues from gaming operations rose by 3.6 percent, totaling $25 million during the quarter, but the expense of operating the casino rose by approximately 7 percent, the company said.

Food and beverage revenues, the third large piece of the company's business, were up by 5.5 percent, and operating profits were up by a bit as the result of lower food commodity prices, the company said.

John Farahi, chief executive officer and chairman of Monarch, said executives were especially happy with the company's performance because the local and national economies remain weak.

During the quarter, Monarch paid down $3.2 million of the debt it took on for an expansion and skybridge project it completed in 2008. The company now has $37.8 million in debt on its books.

Paying down debt is helping the company' profits as well. Monarch said its interest expense during the second quarter was $366,000 compared with $571,000 in last year's second quarter.