Nevada casinos post $2.1 billion in profit

CARSON CITY, NEV. — A new report showed Nevada’s major hotel-casinos posted their highest profit in fiscal 2006: a combined $2.1 billion before federal taxes.

The report released Thursday by the state Gaming Control Board also showed that the 274 resorts had $5.4 billion in earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization, compared with $4.5 billion in the previous fiscal year.

The resorts had $24.08 billion in total revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30, compared with $21.4 billion a year earlier. Its profit before federal taxes last year was $1.8 billion.

“We have record net income and record revenues,” said Frank Streshley, a gaming board analyst. “There was substantial growth in all revenue areas, not just gaming.”

Streshley said increased gambling by both out-of-state tourists and locals helped fuel the record revenue. He added that another construction boom was starting and that boded well for the industry.

The net income of $2.1 billion in the unaudited report is the money left after various expenses and state taxes -- but not federal taxes -- are deducted from gross revenue. The clubs paid $928.2 million in state gambling tax and license fees.

Casino departments at the big resorts reported $91.1 million in bad debt expenses and $1.96 billion in complimentary services to high-rolling gamblers.

A breakdown shows resorts on the Las Vegas Strip had gross revenue of $14.9 billion, including $1.25 billion in net win, the difference between the casinos’ gaming wins and losses before deducting expenses. Downtown Las Vegas resorts reported total revenue of nearly $1.2 billion, including a net win of $140.6 million.

Major clubs in the Reno-Sparks area had a revenue total of $1.64 billion and a profit of $112.9 million, and clubs on Lake Tahoe’s south shore had total revenue of $547.8 million, including a net win of $46.2 million.