Business
Gamehost Income Fund - Reports 2008 fourth quarter financial results
Gamehost Income Fund (the "Fund") (TSX : GH.UN) RED DEER, AB, March 17 /CNW/ - Management and tru...
About this update from Gamehost Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nGamehost Income Fund (the "Fund") (TSX : GH.UN)\n\n\nRED DEER, AB, March 17 /CNW/ - Management and trustees of Gamehost Income\nFund (the "Fund", "Gamehost") present operating results of the Fund for the\ntwelve months ended December 31, 2008 (the "Period") and three months ended\nDecember 31, 2008 (the "Quarter").\n\n\nThe economic globe is cooling and its winds are now blowing across\nAlberta as well. Revenues for the Period totaled $55.6 million down 3.6% from\n$57.6 million in 2007. Entering the Quarter we were nicely airing out from the\nimpact of a provincial non-smoking storm at traditional casinos in Alberta.\nWith the opening of our new Stampede Casino in June 2008 the year over year\ndecline in total revenues of the Fund had been reduced to 3.4% from an earlier\nhigh of 5.5%. Then in November the wind turned. For the Quarter, revenues\ntotaled $14.3 million down 4.0% from $14.9 million in 2007.\n\n\nThe high cost of startup of the new Stampede casino was a factor in lower\nPeriod margins. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization\n("EBITDA") for the Period totaled $24.9 million down 12.0% from $28.4 million\nrecorded the previous year. EBITDA for the Quarter totaled $6.0 million down\n17.7% from $7.3 million recorded in Q4 2007. Year over year EBITDA margins\nwere lower by 4.3% to 44.9% for the Period and lower by 7.0% to 42% for the\nQuarter. Margin deterioration for the Period was exacerbated by a challenging\nDecember. In a month where we ramp up staffing to accommodate the Christmas\nfestive season the entire province was hit with a harsh extended cold snap and\nthe usual foot traffic did not materialize. This was compounded by some\nuntimely losses on table games. Both of these issues resulted in undue\npressure on margins that should be isolated to the Quarter.\n\n\nIn December the Fund declared a special distribution of $0.1674 per unit\nin addition to regular monthly distributions totaling $0.8597 per unit for the\nPeriod for a total combined distribution per unit of $1.0271. This compares to\ntotal per unit distributions of $1.1567 for the 2007 calendar year or an 11%\nreduction in total distributions. The Fund's payout ratio on Standardized\nDistributable Cash totaled 99.1% for the Year compared with 94.2% for 2007. A\nsp...