Business
Gamehost Income Fund - Reports 2008 First Quarter Financial Results
RED DEER, AB, May 13 /CNW/ - Gamehost Income Fund (the "Fund) (TSX.V: GH.UN) Management and Trust...
About this update from Gamehost Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nRED DEER, AB, May 13 /CNW/ - Gamehost Income Fund (the "Fund)\n(TSX.V: GH.UN)\n\n\nManagement and Trustees of Gamehost Income Fund (the "Fund") are pleased\nto report results for the three months ended March 31, 2008 (the "Quarter").\nResults for the Quarter will contrast what investors have come to expect from\nthe Fund each quarter. Lower results for the Quarter were anticipated by\nmanagement. The mid-December 2007 opening of a new casino in Calgary and\nprovince wide non-smoking legislation affecting all but First Nations gaming\noperations came into effect January 1, 2008. These two events had an\nunfavourable impact on Q1 2008 results of the Fund.\n\n\nRevenues for the Quarter totaled $13.3 million down 5.3% from the\n$14.1 million posted in Q1 2007 and down 10.6% from the previous quarter when\nrevenue totaled $14.9 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation\nand amortization ("EBITDA") for the Quarter totaled $6.3 million down 10.1%\nfrom $7.0 million recorded in Q1 2007 and down 13.9% from $7.3 million in the\nprevious quarter. EBITDA margins for the Quarter remain the highest in the\nindustry at 47.2% despite falling 2.5% when compared to 49.7% a year earlier.\nCompared to the previous quarter, EBITDA margins were lower by 1.8% from\n49.0%. The first quarter is behind us and so now is the initial customer\nresponse to a non-smoking reality and new competition.\n\n\nSome things go together like peanut butter and Jam. Operating results for\nthe Quarter indicate that smoking and gaming are two such things. Well, you\ncan't have a peanut butter and jam sandwich at school any more (allergies) and\nyou can no longer smoke at our casinos (the law). Results for the Quarter\nreflect the impact of Alberta's new Tobacco Reduction Act that became\neffective January 1, 2008. The Act prohibits smoking within a specified\ndistance from the windows, doorways and air intakes of public places to\nprotect indoor air quality. The adverse impact on profits caused by\nnon-smoking legislation have been felt in varying degrees by all gaming\nfacility operators in the province that are not operating on First Nation\nreserves.\n\n\nPeople react to change, but they adjust. Our longer term direct\nexperience at Boomtown Casino in Ft. McMurray shows us that the adverse impact\nof non-smoking c...