Penn Entertainment’s second-quarter earnings saw a slight increase, rising by 2.9% to $1.67 billion. However, the company anticipates significantly larger growth in the coming years. They are phasing out the Barstool brand and introducing ESPN Bet later this year.
Penn’s partnership with ESPN is a substantial one, valued at $1.5 billion. The agreement was unveiled just yesterday.
As part of the arrangement, Penn’s Barstool Sportsbook will be rebranded as ESPN Bet in November. Penn will divest the Barstool brand to its founder, Dave Portnoy.
Penn’s chief executive, Jay Snowden, stated that the deal will facilitate their reach to a wider online audience. He asserted that merging Penn’s expertise and data with ESPN and TheScore, the leading sports brands in the US and Canada, will deliver an exceptional user experience. This will contribute to expanding their customer base and reach.
Snowden also expressed confidence that the agreement will achieve similar success to Penn’s acquisition of TheScore in Canada.
Weve witnessed firsthand how TheScore is merging media and wagering, Snowden stated. This is a winning strategy that will be highly successful in the United States.
Pennsylvania’s interactive division is looking optimistic. The interactive division produced $257.5 million in earnings, a 66.2% increase year-on-year. This follows the reintroduction of its sports betting platform on its own technological infrastructure, initially in Ontario with TheScore, then in the United States after the July quarter.
“We are happy with the successful reintroduction of our sports betting application, which includes significant product enhancements that have considerably improved the user experience, including simplified navigation, faster loading times, expanded betting markets, enhanced promotions, and deeper media integration,” Snowden explained.
“The transition reflects a significant accomplishment for our company, which was completed smoothly with minimal disruption to our clients.”
But that’s not the only positive development in the division. As part of yesterday’s ESPN announcement, Penn increased its long-term adjusted EBITDA potential for the division. Adjusted EBITDA is now projected to be between $500 million and $1 billion.
Penn performed well across its properties in the United States in the second quarter. Looking at its top-performing segments, the Northeast segment generated the highest revenue at $688 million. This reflects the performance of 16 casinos.
This segment saw a modest rise, increasing by 0.4%.
The Southern area, encompassing ten gambling establishments, brought in $308.3 million in earnings, a decrease of 8.9%. The third largest revenue source was the Midwestern region, generating $293.3 million in revenue.
Western Pennsylvania produced $130 million in revenue, while Pennsylvania’s racing operations generated $6.2 million. The total $1.67 billion in revenue also included $8.5 million in intersegment eliminations.
From an operational segment perspective, gaming revenue was $1.29 billion, down 2.4%. Food, beverage, and lodging revenue accounted for the remaining $382 million.
Second Quarter Earnings
The increase in revenue was nearly entirely offset by an increase in operating expenses. Operating expenses rose 10.9% to $1.46 billion, resulting in an operating profit of $205.5 million for the quarter. Operating profit declined by 32.0%.
Other income included $115.6 million in interest expense, $9.9 million in interest income, and $7.2 million in non-consolidated subsidiary income. After considering $5.8 million in other expenses, total other expenses were $92.7 million.
This brought pre-tax profit to $112.8 million, an increase of 36.9%. Taxes totaled $34.7 million, resulting in a total net profit for the quarter of $78.1 million, an increase of $52 million.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter totaled $330.4 million, down 30.6%.
Pennsylvania First Half Performance
For the six months ending June 30, revenue was $3.34 billion, an increase of 4.9% year-over-year. Total gaming revenue was $2.61 billion, up slightly less than $1 million year-over-year. Food, beverage, lodging, and other revenue was $730 million.
Penns operational expenditures for the initial six months of the year amounted to $2.93 billion, reflecting a 13.3% surge. After deducting these costs, Penns operational earnings for the initial six months of the year reached $404.6 million.
While interest expenditure experienced a reduction of $228.6 million, this decline was counterbalanced by other revenue streams. These sources encompassed an $83.4 million profit stemming from the Barstool acquisition and a $500.8 million gain derived from a real estate investment trust (REIT) transaction.
This outcome yielded pre-tax earnings of $795.1 million, signifying a year-over-year increase of $613.5 million. Following the deduction of $202.6 million in taxes, net earnings for the initial six months of the year aggregated $592.5 million, representing a year-over-year surge of $514.8 million.
Adjusted EBITDA for the initial six months of the year experienced a 27.2% decline, settling at $662.6 million.