Golden Entertainment Inc. reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. The Company reported third quarter revenue of $161.2 million, net income of $5.2 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $34.0 million. In addition, on November 5, 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the Company’s recurring quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share of the Company’s outstanding common stock payable on January 7, 2025 to shareholders of record as of December 20, 2024. The Company’s Board of Directors also increased the Company’s share repurchase authorization by $100 million, creating $131.4 million of current availability under the Company’s share repurchase program.

Blake Sartini, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Golden, said: “In the third quarter, we have maintained our commitment to returning capital to shareholders through our regular dividend and share buyback program despite a challenging operating environment for our properties. We anticipate that business conditions will improve in the fourth quarter and, with our increased share buyback authorization currently at over $130 million, we expect to continue to use our liquidity to acquire our own shares throughout the year.”

The Company repurchased 815,116 shares of common stock in the third quarter, at an average price of $31.65 per share for a total of $25.8 million. In October, after the end of the quarter, an additional 134,613 shares were repurchased for a total of $4.2 million. Year to date, the Company has repurchased 1.94 million shares of the Company’s common stock at an average price of $30.70 per share for a total of $59.5 million.

Consolidated Results

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The Company reported third quarter of 2024 revenues of $161.2 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $34.0 million, compared to revenues of $257.7 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $53.2 million for the third quarter of 2023. The declines in revenues and Adjusted EBITDA over the prior year period were primarily related to the exclusion of the results for the Company’s Rocky Gap Casino Resort and distributed gaming operations in Montana and Nevada that were sold on July 25, 2023, September 13, 2023 and January 10, 2024, respectively. The Company reported net income of $5.2 million, or $0.18 per fully diluted share, for the third quarter of 2024, compared to net income of $241.2 million, or $7.83 per fully diluted share, for the third quarter of 2023. The third quarter of 2023 results included the impact of the $305.8 million gain on the sales of the Rocky Gap Casino Resort and the Montana distributed gaming business recognized during the quarter.

Debt and Liquidity

As of September 30, 2024, the Company’s total principal amount of debt outstanding was $399.0 million, consisting primarily of $395.0 million in outstanding term loan borrowings.

As of September 30, 2024, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $68.6 million. There continues to be no outstanding borrowings under the Company’s $240 million revolving credit facility.

Golden Entertainment Inc. announced that effective March 20, 2024, Blake Sartini II, Golden’s Executive Vice President of Operations, became the Company’s Chief Operating Officer.

“Blake has worked in every capacity throughout our organization since he started at Golden almost 17 years ago. His unique knowledge of our Company’s culture, commitment to operational excellence, and strong leadership skills make him the ideal individual to be given responsibility for all our Nevada casino resorts, locals properties, tavern operations and related corporate functions,” Blake Sartini, Chairman and CEO of Golden, said.

Blake Sartini II initially joined Golden in June 2007, working with Golden’s tavern operations and building what is now the largest branded tavern portfolio in Nevada with 69 locations. Currently, as Executive Vice President of Operations, in addition to oversight of Golden’s taverns, he has direct responsibility for the Company’s five local casinos in Las Vegas and Pahrump.

Steve Arcana, Golden’s current Chief Operating Officer, became the Company’s Chief Development Officer also effective March 20, 2024. In this newly created role, Mr. Arcana will be responsible for all new tavern development, finding new third-party food and beverage concepts for the Company’s casino resorts, and exploring opportunities to unlock value in the Company’s excess real estate in Las Vegas, Laughlin and Pahrump. Mr. Arcana initially joined Golden in 2003 and has overseen the Company’s operations as it has grown from a privately held, 900-slot machine route operation to a publicly traded gaming company with casinos in Las Vegas, Laughlin and Pahrump in addition to its significant tavern portfolio.

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“Steve has been with Golden for over 20 years and has been an integral part of growing our business and guiding us through many challenges. Steve has established a strong operating team and has been a consistent leader throughout his decades at Golden. His long history and extensive experience in the industry will continue to benefit the Company in his new role focused on creating value from new tavern development and unused assets in our casino portfolio,” Mr. Sartini said.

“These management changes will allow Golden to focus on maximizing performance in our core operations while exploring opportunities to drive future improvement by bringing potential new concepts to our existing portfolio. I am confident the changes to Blake and Steve’s roles with the Company will position us well to create additional shareholder value,” Mr. Sartini added.