PENN Entertainment Remains Optimistic Despite Revenue Dip in Q1 2024

Despite the fact that PENN Entertainment (Penn Entertainment 18,46 -1,55%) reported a 3.8% decline in revenue to $1.61 billion in the first quarter, it continues to keep a favorable stance on its growth prospects for the full year 2024.

“The future is very promising. The two most challenging quarters from a digital [profit and loss] perspective are now behind us. We greatly appreciate the investors that have and continue to support us and trust us. We don’t take that lightly and are deeply committed to making sure you’ll be rewarded for that decision,” PENN Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Jay Snowden said during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

PENN reported a decrease in revenue throughout all of its key divisions for the first quarter that ended on March 31. Gaming revenue fell 5.1%, reaching $1.26 billion.

The Northeast section continued to be PENN’s biggest income generator, collecting $648.7 million. However, this figure ushered in a 2.3% reduction over the previous year, owing mostly to bad weather conditions in the first quarter.

In other areas, revenue from the South segment’s physical activities fell 5.2% to $298.5 million, while the Midwest segment fell 1.4% to $291.2 million. In contrast, the West section did very well among the land-based divisions, with just a 0.7% decrease in sales to $128.8 million.

“Across the portfolio, we continue to capitalise on cross-sell opportunities from our retail sportsbooks, which has helped sustain our momentum in our Ohio properties and re-energise properties such as Plainridge Park in Massachusetts and Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. With winter now behind us, we are seeing great progress with our four growth projects, all of which remain on budget and on schedule,” Snowden said.

PENN Falls Below Expectation

According to projections, PENN would suffer a net loss of approximately $90 million during the first quarter of the year. On the other hand, the company reported a net loss of $114.9 million for the quarter, which was significantly more than what was anticipated.

With regard to earnings per share, it was anticipated that PENN would incur a loss of $0.59 per share, while the company actually recorded a loss of $0.76 per share. On top of that, PENN announced a year-over-year reduction in revenue of 3.8%, which was lower than the revenue statistics that were anticipated.

“Admittedly, we have not been as tight and accurate with our financial forecasts in the early days of ESPN BET, which is not representative of our long-term track record or internal expectations at PENN,” Snowden said.

ESPN BET to Boost Product Offerings/Integrations by Football Season

Snowden stated that major product improvements and more synergies with other ESPN products should be available to ESPN BET users by the start of the 2024–25 football season.

“Our focus heading into this football season will be on enhancing our product offerings, including a refreshed home screen and expanded parlay offerings,” a spokesperson for the brand said.

“Simultaneously, with our partners at ESPN, we will reveal additional ESPN BET media integrations within their digital media app and industry leading fantasy product. We believe our enhanced product offering and media integrations will result in superior experiences for our customers, leading to higher retention, share of wallet, and spend per user.”

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