Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority published its financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2023 posting strong growth in income from operations on the back of a marginal increase in revenue.
Overview of the Performance
Over the three months ended December 31, 2022, Mohegan generated net revenue of $406.62 million mainly due to the strong performance at its Niagara Resorts which managed to more than offset the setbacks at Mohegan Sun and Mohegan Pennsylvania. Compared to the net revenue figure in the first fiscal quarter of 2022, the net revenue represents a marginal increase of 1.2%.
What is more impressive is that from relatively the same net revenue ($401.96 million in the fiscal Q1 2022), Mohegan ended the fiscal Q1 2023 with nearly twice as much net income, $70.23 million, as compared to $35.19 million in the fiscal Q1 2022, or up 99.5%. Net income attributable to Mohegan for the period stood at $807,000 to reverse a net loss of $11.68 million in the fiscal Q1 2022.
Raymond Pineault, chief executive officer of Mohegan, attributed the financial results to Mohegan’s diversification strategy which enabled the company to cope with macroeconomic headwinds and come out with positive results.
“Our consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $101.1 million continues our trend of strong performance [and] our diversification strategy and continued focus on profitability have enabled Mohegan to offset some of the inflationary and labor pressures and achieve these strong results,” he said.
Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was up 3.8% when compared to the adjusted EBITDA in the fiscal Q1 2022 of $97.4 million. Across Mohegan properties, adjusted EBITDA varied from negative 16.7% at Mohegan Pennsylvania to positive 8.7% for Niagara Resorts. Mohegan Sun also registered negative EBITDA.
Across the Properties
The tribe’s home state property, Mohegan Sun, registered net revenues of $239.4 million, down 4.8% from $251.57 million in the fiscal Q1 2022. Mohegan attributed the result to declines in slot and table games revenues, while also accounting for the positive impact in the previous comparable period from the property’s 25th-anniversary celebration and the negative impact of slot and table hold, as well as the weather in the reported quarter.
The figures at Mohegan Pennsylvania were similar as net revenues fell to $59.78 million, down 6.9% from $64.22 million, due to poor weather which resulted in lower gaming volumes and lower table games hold percentage.
At Niagara Resorts, net revenues increased by 17.8% to $74 million due to high gaming volumes and a substantial increase in non-gaming revenues. The opening of the 5,000-seat OLG Stage entertainment venue and the lack of operating restrictions during the quarter also contributed to the result.