COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., July 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ – Century Casinos, Inc. (Nasdaq Capital Market®: CNTY) (“Century Casinos” or the “Company”) announced today the latest developments at Century Casino Caruthersville in Missouri.
Efforts to change a Missouri law that required each casino to be a “floating facility” have been successful. Going forward, the Missouri Gaming Commission will have the ability to approve a casino facility that is built as a standard building as long as it also includes a container with at least 2,000 gallons of water beneath the facility. This change opens the opportunity for Century Casino Caruthersville, which is the last remaining riverboat casino on open water in Missouri, to move to a non-floating facility.
The Company also purchased parcels of land between land already leased by the Company and the land-based Pavilion building, which contains a restaurant, multifunctional spaces and an entrance to the walkway to the riverboat casino. The purchases also come with a small, existing two-story hotel. The land purchases provide strategic options for the future casino and hotel development and better access to parking. The Company has already started working with a renowned architecture firm to develop plans for the new casino and hotel facility. The Company will refurbish the existing hotel with the goal to reopen it with 36 rooms by early 2022. There is currently no other hotel situated in downtown Caruthersville.
The number of available casino licenses in Missouri remains capped at 13, and casino facilities are still required to be located within 1,000 feet of the Mississippi or Missouri rivers. The Company’s two casinos in Missouri, Century Casino Caruthersville and Century Casino Cape Girardeau, operate 1,365 slot machines and 32 table games and generated 43% of the Company’s net operating revenue and 104% of the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA1 in Q1 2021.
“We are very thankful to the Missouri legislature, the Caruthersville community and our management in Missouri for having driven and supported our successful efforts in Missouri,” Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, Co Chief Executive Officers of Century Casinos remarked. “We look forward to bringing exciting improvements to our property in Caruthersville,” Haitzmann and Hoetzinger concluded.
About Century Casinos, Inc.:
Century Casinos, Inc. is a casino entertainment company. The Company owns and operates Century Casino & Hotels in Cripple Creek and Central City, Colorado, and in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; the Century Casino in Cape Girardeau and Caruthersville, Missouri, and in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada; Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in New Cumberland, West Virginia; the Century Mile Racetrack and Casino (“CMR”) in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; and Century Bets! Inc. (“CBS”). CBS and CMR operate the pari-mutuel off-track horse betting networks in southern and northern Alberta, respectively. Through its Austrian subsidiary, Century Resorts Management GmbH (“CRM”), the Company holds a 66.6% ownership interest in Casinos Poland Ltd., the owner and operator of eight casinos throughout Poland; and a 75% ownership interest in Century Downs Racetrack and Casino in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Company has an agreement to operate two ship-based casinos. The Company, through CRM, also owns a 7.5% interest in, and provides consulting services to, Mendoza Central Entretenimientos S.A., a company that provides gaming-related services to Casino de Mendoza in Mendoza, Argentina. The Company continues to pursue other projects in various stages of development.