Casino Stocks Unmoved By 7.8% April Revenue Gain On Vegas Strip

Casino stocks were largely unmoved Friday by a report from state regulators that Las Vegas Strip gambling revenue rose by a higher-than-expected 7.8 percent in April to $498.9 million. http://gaming.nv.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=9937 MGM Resorts International

, which gets about half its revenue from Las Vegas operations, traded up recently by $0.06 cents to $20.25. Las Vegas Sands Corp.

and Wynn Resorts Ltd

get most of their revenue from Asia. Sands traded recently at $51.01, down $0.04 cents; Wynn was off 1.8 percent at $101.13. Other players in the sector were down slightly on Friday. The segment has been broadly hammered over the past year, mostly on political and economic factors affecting the Macau market. Deutsche Bank's Carlo Santarelli had expected April Strip revenue would fall 3.4 percent. Slot machines, which make the greatest contribution to gambling revenue from the Las Vegas Strip, gained about 11 percent to $262 million. Santarelli said the gain stemmed from a 1.1 percent increase in "slot handle" or the amount spent by customers, while the "hold," or the amount retained by casinos, rose by 72 basis points. Strip table revenue grew 4.4 percent in April to $231.6 million while hold was unchanged. Including all of Nevada, statewide gross gaming revenue grew 5.4 percent in April, coming in at $897.9 million.