Century Casinos, Inc.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's Century Casino's Q1 2026 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, you will have the opportunity to ask questions during the question and answer session. You may register to ask a question at any time by pressing the star and 1 on your telephone keypad. Please note, this call is being recorded, and I will be standing by if you should need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Peter Hetzinger, Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our earnings call. Before we start, we'd like to remind everyone that we will be discussing forward-looking information under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, and the actual results may differ from those projected. Throughout the call, we referred to several non-GAAP financial measures including but not limited to adjusted EBITDA. Reconciliations of our non-GAAP measures to the appropriate GAAP measures can be found in our news releases and SEC filings, available in the investor section of our website at cnty.com. With me today are my TOAS CEO, Erwin Heitzman, and our Chief Financial Officer, Margaret Stapleton. After our prepared remarks, we'll open the call for questions from analysts. I'm pleased to report that our diversified portfolio delivered a strong, solid quarter as net operating revenue increased by 5%. That is an all-time record for us. We never had higher revenues in the first quarter in the history of the company. Congrats to all staff members and the management teams at our properties. Our performance was encouraging across the board. The growth was broad-based. every single property in the US and Canada had higher revenues than in Q1 of last year. And that strong revenue performance also translated well to profitability, with adjusted EBITDA increasing 24% year-over-year. Highlights of the quarter include the 93% EBITDA increase at the Nugget, as well as the ongoing ramp and strong performances of both Missouri properties. And also on the EBITDA level, every single property in the US and Canada grew compared to Q1 of last year. We achieved that growth despite extra costs and the slow ramping new casino in Poland. Strong operating discipline led to improved flow through with some property margins in the high 30s and even above 40%. In the quarter, We benefited from growth across core and retail customers, from improving weather conditions, as well as from a predominantly local repeat customer base, a diversified portfolio, and limited exposure to new supply. As mentioned in our last call, we've been seeing solid trends since around December of last year, despite higher gas prices. At most of our properties, the majority of our customers live within a 45-minute drive. Hence, the overall economy, inflation, and especially employment are more meaningful than gas prices alone. And I would say we are also seeing some benefits from tax refunds being higher year over year, offset by less several macro geopolitical backdrop. Our properties are spread across five states and one Canadian province. And these positive results were also supported by the ongoing trend of customers staying closer to home and spending their money closer to home. Across the entire US portfolio, the trend of strong play from high value and core customer segments continued. Overall rated revenue increased 5%, emphasized by solid growth in the high and mid ATT segments and in all age groups. And last but not least, we benefited from strong returns from the capital investments we've made over the last two plus years. These investments have finally entered the contribution phase, contributing to EBITDA growth and helping us to start leveraging the balance sheet. With that, now over to Erwin for more color on our individual properties.

Thank you, Peter, and good morning, everyone. In the United States, we had an excellent first quarter with year-over-year revenue and EBITDA growth at each property, beginning in the east with Rocky Gap Casino Resort & Golf in Maryland. There, revenue increased 6.5% from 13.9 to 14.8 million, and EBITDA increased 32% from 1.6 to 2.2 million. Rocky Gap had a strong quarter with total revenue up nearly 10% and NOR up 6.5%, driven by solid gains in visitation in January and February. Slot revenue rose 16%, boosted by improved hold. The property's direct mail digitization initiative, which we introduced for guests aged 39 and younger, is delivering meaningful savings in marketing spend while maintaining engagement. Payroll discipline continued, with total payroll up only 1.6% despite annual increases. Operating expenses were down 5.2%. On the customer side, rated gaming revenue grew 21%. High ADT customers accounted for 33% of total gaming revenue and grew 39%. We are seeing growth across all age groups, with seniors up 28%, and middle-aged and young adults each up 14%. Non-low-income customers now account for more than half of rated gaming revenue, reflecting the property's continued draw as a destination resort. We experienced some softness in March, likely driven by higher gas prices. Looking ahead, the team has activated targeted campaigns in Pennsylvania ahead of the opening of a new casino in State College which is approximately two hours from Rocky Gap. Continuing with Mountaineer Casino Resort and Races in West Virginia. Revenue increased 3.9% from 23.2 to 24.1 million and EBITDA increased 24% from 2.6 to 3.2 million. Mountaineer's Q1 result was driven by expense discipline and moderate revenue growth. Total revenue was essentially flat while NOR improved 3.9% due to a 0.7 million reduction in free play. Our digital channels continued their strong growth. iGaming revenue was up 48% year over year and sports betting was up 285%. Hotel occupancy held steady with higher cash and lower comp revenue. Adults 40 to 59 years old grew 12% and young adults grew 24% in rated gaming revenue. These are encouraging signs for the property's customer-based development. Local customers grew 11% and now account for 81% of rated revenue, reflecting Mountaineer's position as a regional entertainment anchor in West Virginia's northern panhandles. Now onto our Midwest portfolio, starting in Missouri. At Century Casino and Hotel Cape Girardeau, revenue increased 6.4% from 17.1 to 18.2 million, and EBITDA increased 12% from 6.1 to 6.9 million. Cape Girardeau had a strong quarter. The increase in net operating revenue was driven by excellent slot performance. Slot revenue was up 6.5%, and guest volumes were up 8%. Our retail sportsbook, which launched in December 25, is already averaging 17% of Missouri's total sports betting handles and is ranked second in the state, an impressive early result. The Riverview Hotel continues to perform well, with occupancy rising to 76% from 68% in Q1 of last year. Compt Hotel guests are generating an average ADT of more than $400, confirming the strong link between hotel stay and gaming value. Illinois patronage is rebounding, with unique patrons up 6% over prior year. The competitive picture, which includes Walker's Bluff and Metropolis in Illinois, remains manageable. Now to our Century Casino and Hotel Carradasville. revenue increased 3.1% from $14.2 to $14.6 million, and EBITDA increased 5% from $6.1 to $6.3 million. Caradasville continues to deliver strong, consistent results from its well-established permanent facility. Both slots and tables delivered positive revenue growth, with slots up 7% and tables up 2%. High ADT customers grew 23%, and Missouri patronage grew by 22%. Trips from patrons living more than 75 miles away increased by 20%, a clear indicator that the new facility is drawing from a broader geographic catchment area. Also note that there was a one-time favorable settlement of 225K in Q1 of last year. On an average to average basis, EBITDA growth was 9%. I continue with Colorado. At Century Casino and Hotel Cripple Creek, revenue increased 8.6% from 4.1 to 4.4 million and EPITAR increased 37% from 1.1 to 1.5 million. Cripple Creek had a very good quarter. The elimination of table games at the start of 2025 continues to prove its worth. The electronic table games lounge is popular among our guests, especially young adults. Accordingly, this age group shows the strongest growth. Payroll and benefits were down 70K or nearly 5%, and total expenses fell 1.5%. The result is a clean, lean operation with further improved profitability. Customer trends show healthy growth in both unrated and non-local play, which we attribute to our successful marketing initiatives and our continued focus on customer satisfaction. Rated gaming revenue grew 5%, with mid and low ADT segments each up more than 15%. In the Century Casino and Hotel Central City, revenue was up 4%, from 4.4 to 4.6 million, and EBITDA more than quadrupled, from 200,000 to over 1 million. Central City's improvement continued in Q1. The removal of table games, which we implemented at the start of 2025, It significantly improved the property's cost profile. Total expenses were down 600,000 euro per year, with payroll and benefits alone down 313,000. Lot revenue was flat the prior year. The EBITDA improvement is substantial and reflects a better managed operation. We are also seeing some improvement in unrated and non-local play at Central City. Hotel cash revenue was up 10%. with a strong Q2 event calendar, including the 20th Anniversary Challenge, a multi-month promotion culminating in a car, trips, or cash drawing on July 5. Now to the West and the Nugget Casino Resort in Reno Sparks. Revenue increased 4% from $16.4 to $17.1 million, and EPITAR increased 93% from $0.7 to $1.4 million. The Nuggets EBITDA doubling is significant. As expenses were flat, the increase in revenue was fully flowing through to EBITDA. Hotel cash revenue was up 1 million, which is a 31% increase. FNP cash revenue was up 7%, demonstrating that the non-gaming amenities are gaining traction. Unrated gaming grew 16%, suggesting growing walk-in visitation, aided by the increased hotel occupancy and improved entertainment offers. The concert lineup for this year is excellent. The Brooks and Dunn concert on April 25 was sold out. The acts still to come include Keith Urban, Lady A, Shinetown, Miranda Lambert, and Kansas and Deep Purple. Now to Canada. Our portfolio in Alberta, Canada consists of Century Casino and Hotel Edmonton, Century Casino St. Albert in the Edmonton metropolitan area, Century Mile Racetrack and Casino to the south of Edmonton, and Century Downs Racetrack and Casino to the north of Calgary. These properties performed very well in Q1-Q2. Combined revenue increased 10.9% from $16.5 to $18.3 USD, million and combined EBITDA increased 26% from 4.4 to 5.5 million USD. We saw another quarter of solid performance at our Alberta operations. The renovation of the exterior façade at our St. Albert Casino, which was completed last year, has significantly improved results. And our Central Mile Rail Track and Casino, achieved the best quarterly performance since its opening in 2019. We completed the construction of sports bars at all four sites and are well prepared to offer retail sports betting, which will be permitted in Alberta at casinos and select sports sites later in 2026. Finally, moving to Poland, where revenue increased 2.3% from 20.6 to 21.1 million USD and EBITDA decreased 8% from $550,000 to half a million. The challenging period marked by license delays in relocations has ended, and we can focus on improving overall results. Our second Wroclaw location started operations in February of this year and is expected to further strengthen our position. While revenue is showing a small increase already, EBITDA is down by 8%. We attribute this decrease to lower than normal replacement capex, given the intent to sell the Poland subsidiary. All current licenses are valid through at least 2028, and we expect stable operations going forward. With that, back to you, Peter.

Thank you, Erwin. Let's now go over some capital and balance sheet items and share our outlook for the rest of the year with you. As reported, adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was 24.9 million versus 20.2 million last year. Cash rent was 18 million versus 16.3 million, resulting in adjusted EBITDA of 7 million this year versus 3.9 million last year, an 80% increase. Our cash and cash equivalents as of March 31st were 60 million. We spent approximately 3 million in capex in the quarter, mainly on gaming equipment, the new casino in Poland, as well as on other small projects throughout the different properties. Total debt outstanding was 337 million, resulting in net debt of 277 million. The end of the quarter, our net debt to EBITDA ratio remained unchanged at 6.9 times. These adjusted, the ratio was 7.6 times, again unchanged from the previous quarter. Importantly, we are now heading into the stronger cash flow quarters and are seeing positive indications that the business is on the right track to lower leverage to more manageable levels of leverage. Let me also note that we have no debt maturities for the next three years, that is until Q2 of 2029. Reducing leverage is a top priority throughout the remainder of the year, as share repurchases are on the back burner. As mentioned in previous earnings calls, 2026 will be a year of execution and harvesting for us. While we have the rest of the year still to deliver, I'm happy to report we're off to a good start. I would say that April feels very much like a continuation of Q1, which is good. We are not seeing any cracks in the armor. Across the board, we're actually feeling really good for the remainder of the year. We see the solid trend continuing into the second quarter, and we see a clear path forward to higher EBITDA and cash flow for 2026 and beyond. the regional consumer has been remarkably resilient to the noise that we have seen in the last couple of months. Regional and local business feels firm. We expect to benefit from strong improvements and performances at the Nugget, as well as in Colorado, and from the continued ramp of the new land-based facility in Corrado's field. Cash flow-wise, in addition to higher EBITDA, we expect to benefit from decreasing CapEx. Whilst we spent a total of $18 million of our cash for CapEx in 2025, we expect that amount to come down to between $14 and $15 million for this year. This is all normal capital cycle stuff. We have no big projects around the corner. As you know, we just came off a large capital expenditure program, so it's quite natural that we now spend some time harvesting that cash flow to strengthen our balance sheet. As things move forward, we will remain focused on improving our free cash flow generation while optimizing our corporate overhead and remaining disciplined with our capital. As for our strategic review process, it's still ongoing and we continue to make good progress. Selected assets are under exclusivity agreements and we cannot make public comments right now. And I ask for your understanding that we will not take questions on this topic in our Q&A session. And with that, can you please open the line for our first questions from analyst operator? Thank you.

Thank you. At this time, we will open the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone keypad, and you'll be placed into the queue in the order received. You may remove yourself from the queue at any time by pressing pound and one. If we do not get to your question, please reach out to the company using the investor relations page at cnty.com. Once again, to ask a question, press star one now. Our first question will come from Jeff Stantial with Stifel.

Great. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking our questions. Starting off, I'd love to just dig into a quarter a little bit. You know, the margins was really, you know, the piece of things that surprised us the most to the upside. Erwin, you know, you gave us a lot of different data points at the asset level to help us think about it. I guess maybe to tie it all together and think about things, you know, at a more macro level, can you just talk about sort of, you know, How much of the margin expansion you saw in Q1 was sort of more one-time in nature, whether that's easier flow-through comps on weather impact or certain initiatives that played out versus how much is sort of more structural in nature? Or I guess put another way, how should we think about flow-through, assuming revenue kind of holds stable as the year progresses?

Jeff, thanks for the question. I think it's twofold. There was a little bit of a weather impact as last year in Q1 there was inclement weather in a few of our properties. But that's only for a certain portion of the increase. I think the larger portion is that we ran an initiative across all properties pushing one more time for really searching for possibilities for cost savings, both on the property side, but also on the corporate level, where we were checking all agreements again for could we not get advantages in purchasing, for example, by combining the purchasing power all across the United States, just browsing through all the large and also the smaller agreements, some of which we just felt we don't need anymore, we can replace by in-house services. As I said, we just gave it a push and encouraged everyone to look at all the costs with a fresh eye. That was the second part. The third part was that we did the same thing for the marketing side, where again we encouraged everyone to rethink everything and make new proposals. see whether there is anything we haven't done. We should try and encourage new initiatives. And that shows good results. In some cases, exceptional results.

Thanks for that, Erwin. And then maybe actually just double-clicking on that last point. So the marketing initiatives that Vicky talked about, Marketing costs being down that rocky gap. I think you mentioned, you know, you pull back on free play at Mountaineer. Can you just talk about sort of the, you know, the process a little bit more? You know, how do you decide where to pull back on, whether it's on marketing or promos? And then is there any sort of, you know, player level data or analysis that you've put together that you can share with us that shows that, you know, this isn't going to have an impact, whether immediately or longer term on player behavior?

Thanks. Yeah, I can. I mean, the format wouldn't allow to go into all details, but I'll give you examples. As I mentioned earlier, in Rocky Gap, we changed the mailers and we said everybody 39 and younger will only get emails and not a physical mail anymore. That saves money, obviously. And we think we can, for the obvious reason, that makes sense. And that has been very well accepted and we're starting to save some costs. Another example would be, for example, the Nugget, where we significantly increased the points that we gave. For example, at the table games, we increased the points we give by fourfold, four times as many as before. And in the slots, for a month or two, we said we double what we give back. But it's working so well that we might continue with that campaign for a longer period of time. And we'll continue to do more of that. So I could give you more examples, but it's just property by property. As new ideas come up, we encourage them to try and see what works.

Helpful. Thanks very much. Certainly.

And our next question will come from Ryan Seedahl with Craig Holland.

Hey, good day, guys. Alberta, nice quarter, really strong results, both revenue and profit-wise. How much was there an impact from the macroeconomic, higher oil prices, et cetera, versus company-specific initiatives?

Hi, Ryan. Thanks for the question. It's really hard to say that. In Alberta, we used to say when the oil prices are high, then the revenues are better, but that's not necessarily true anymore and cannot be linked directly. I think it's a similar thing. We also made a marketing push there and encouraged all the managers who are doing a wonderful job to take some more share ideas with us and, as I said, to encourage them to try new things, and some of them work really well. And it seems that the customers, this fresh wind is also going through to the customers and then ultimately to the income statement.

And just on free cash flow, good to hear kind of the confidence in that increasing. A couple of years ago, you were targeting 30 million plus free cash flow. I guess, can you talk to, is that still a realistic target timeline to get there and then the levers you plan to pull?

Peter, can I turn it over to you?

Yes, Ryan. We think that with the improvements that we have made to our portfolio over the last couple of years, our asset portfolio is certainly capable of doing that. We need the low-end consumer to come back a little bit more than what we currently are seeing. And with that, the continued improvements that we are making especially the nugget, which we believe has the highest potential upside, that is certainly the goal in the next two or three years.

Thanks, Peter. Erwin, good luck, guys. Thank you.

And our next question will come from Chad Beynon with Macquarie.

Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Wanted to talk about the nugget. You spoke about the strong concert calendar that we can see on your website here. So it looks really good over the next couple months. And conventions could be up. So not looking specifically for numbers. I mean, really good to see the strong EBITDA increase for Q1. But is there a way for us to think about, you know, just visitation to the market or how meaningful these bigger concerts could be for the summer period? and if you usually see higher play at the slot machines and table games during these periods as well. Thanks.

Definitely. Thanks for the question, Chet. The concerts are meaningful from various perspectives. First of all, we believe that we have the most attractive outdoor venue in the market, in the Reynolds Park market. And it's popular not only with the guests, it's also popular with the artists, obviously. Then, yes, definitely such a concert is not only... The economic result of the concert is not only ticket sales minus costs for the artist and production, but it's a lot around it. It's the food and beverage revenue that is made in the Nagel Event Center, which is meaningful. if organized well, contributes a lot. But then it's also very important to get the customers over to the casino. And we see that there is a significant lift in casino revenue, in food and beverage revenue over at the casino and the various restaurant outlets. And also for the night of the concert and the night before and the night after, we see a significant increase in hotel revenues. Of course, we're also selling packages where we sell hotel rooms together with concert tickets. We market that as well, so such a successful concert can be really meaningful, and Rooks & Dunn was one of those that was sold out and then had a fantastic impact on the numbers.

Okay, great. Thanks for that additional color. And then with respect to Poland on the cost side or the margin improvement, does this feel like it's more of a one-time issue in the first quarter and you guys can return to growth when you get past some of that? Or do you need revenues to increase from here to see EBITDA increase year over year?

We mainly think we need the ramp-up of the second WhatsApp casino, mainly. So that took a little bit longer than we had hoped for, but it's coming now. And so, yes, we're looking for the increase in revenue to increase EBITDA. We've had that before when we had these closes and openings, and sometimes it goes quickly, and in other instances it takes a little bit longer until the customers are then coming back.

Okay, great. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Our next question will come from Connor Parks with CBRE.

Hi. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking our questions. I appreciate the comments around leverage and the prioritization of leverage here going forward. I guess as you hit this inflection point in free cash flow, at what point might you start to use some cash on hand or internal liquidity to start to buy back the loan in the open market, especially considering where the loan has traded over the past few months?

Okay, thanks for the question, Conor, Peter.

Yes, Conor, that is definitely the thing to do. We are planning to sell Poland, as we have said, and the next market that is non-core after Poland is obviously Canada. And then we have now heading into the strong amounts of positive cash from operations. So these are the three sources of cash. And as you probably have seen in our thank you filing, we've reached an agreement with one holder of the terminal B that allows us to up to a certain amount of the term loan at a specified discount. We didn't have that agreement before our Term Loan B contract and the agreement obliged us to use proceeds from asset sales to buy back the Term Loan B at par. And that was obviously not the most productive thing to do. Now that we have that in place, we will definitely use proceeds from either asset sales or positive operating cash flow to pay down some of the terminal B of priority.

Great.

Thank you for that. All makes sense. And then as a follow-up on that same announcement from yesterday evening, the addition of a new board member, impressive gaming backgrounds for him, specifically the Mohegan Tribe. I guess, what type of role, if you're able to share it, do you expect him to play, whether it be operationally with a balance sheet or kind of all the above?

Thank you.

That's probably a little bit early to say.

um mitchell has just joined our board yesterday or today officially and we'll get started soon he will start visiting our properties and he certainly will make his offer to make his experience available and will share his thoughts with us and we believe this can be very we're excited about it we believe this can be very uh fruitful and and positive to get further input from somebody within a background like Mitchell has for the properties of Century Casinos.

Great. Thank you. I appreciate it. Definitely.

Thank you.

That is all the time we have. If we did not get to your question, please reach out to the company using the investor relations page at cnty.com. I will now turn the call back to Mr. Hetzinger for closing remarks.

I would like to just thank everybody for joining the call. We appreciate that. We'll talk again in August when we'll present the results of the second quarter. Until then, thank you and goodbye.

Thank you. This does conclude today's Century Casino's Q1 2026 earnings call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.