The Seneca Gaming Corp.’s profits took a hit during the company’s most recent fiscal year.
In an annual report filed Monday with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, the corporation announced a decline in net income of more than $16 million for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The report showed net income dropping to $102.6 million from $119.2 million a year ago.
During the first two months of the company’s 2009 fiscal year, the Corporation said it experienced a “4.7 percent decrease in slot handle and a 15.0 percent decrease in table games drop, which contributed to a decrease in net revenue of 5.2 percent when compared to the same two-month period from a year ago.”
The filing points to the current recession and addresses the company’s recent decision to layoff more than 200 employees. The filing indicates that the corporation cut staff despite “implementing cost-saving measures during the previous 12-month period in an attempt to reduce expenses and increase profitability.”
“While we have been successful in obtaining such efficiencies, we believe it to be prudent to continue to be conscious of the economic crisis facing all consumers and the resulting tightening of consumer spending and its impact on the availability of discretionary funds for gaming and entertainment purposes,” the corporation wrote.
Net revenues rose at the corporation’s three casinos in Niagara Falls, Salamanca and Buffalo, up from $592.9 million in 2007 to $632 million in 2008. Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel continued to generate the most money, with year-to-year revenues increasing from $418.3 million to $432.7 million.
Total overall operating expenses also increased for the corporation, from $444.7 million in 2007 to $487.9 million in 2008.
Other notable features of the filing include:
• As of Sept. 30, 2008, 28 percent of the gaming corp.’s roughly 1.5 million Seneca Link Player’s Card members live in the Buffalo-Niagara Area, 22 percent come from Ohio, 42 percent from other areas of New York and Pennsylvania and 8 percent from Canada.
• During fiscal year 2008, the average occupancy rate at Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel was 94 percent. According to the corporation, about 72 percent of those rooms were provided on a complimentary basis to its gaming patrons.
• The corporation anticipates the official opening of the Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Course in Lewiston to occur in spring of 2010. The corporation notes that the decision to open will “depend upon how well the course matures throughout the 2009 growing season.”
• The corporation owes money to the New York State Police. According to the filing, the Nation and the State Police are currently involved in an ongoing dispute concerning the exact amount owed to the police for providing regulatory oversight. As of Sept. 30, the filing indicates that the corporation has accrued $24.2 million to cover such costs, which it believes is adequate.
Local News
CASINO: Seneca Gaming sees $16 million drop in earnings
- Local News
-
-
SLIDESHOW: Memorial Day Weekend 2012
Niagara Falls celebrates Memorial Day Weekend activities on Saturday with a parade on Pine Avenue, a memorial service and viewing of the new Veterans Memorial at Hyde Park, a concert series on Old Falls Street and free boat safety inspections by the Niagara County Sheriff Department Marine Division at the City of Niagara Falls Boat Docks on Buffalo Avenue.
-
Legislation protecting Falls air base units moves forward
The effort to protect jobs at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station got a boost from a committee in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
-
Korean student robbed at gunpoint in Falls
Detectives are investigating the robbery of a 25-year-old woman Wednesday night in front of a motel in the 400 block of Main Street.
-
Davis will not seek Murphy removal
Lawyers for accused killer Matthew “Bones” Davis say their client will not ask to have Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III removed from his case.
-
Labor group laments economic development efforts
Economic development in New York state has become a joke to some in the area. And many of them are demanding changes to a process which spends approximately $3 billion a year.
-
Repaving work on Old Military Road rises to $790K
Sometimes a change is good. Sometimes a change is bad. For the Town of Lewiston, a change can be pretty costly.
-
Fifth-grader presents list of 400 names asking for new playground
A 10-year-old boy carrying a petition containing more than 400 signatures asked members of the Niagara Falls School Board on Thursday to consider building a new playground at his school.
-
Bomb threat leads to arrest at NT school
A North Tonawanda teen was arrested Thursday morning for sending a one-sentence bomb threat to the computer of a fellow high school student, resulting in a brief lockdown of the school.
- Sense of resignation on AES pact
-
Marching to the new veterans memorial
It's the unofficial beginning of summer.
Memorial Day may mean cookouts with hot dogs and hamburgers, a trip on the river in a boat or simply a day off from work Monday.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Neighbors of Etan Patz's Suspect: It's Shocking
Gulf Fishermen Reel From Seafood Troubles
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
