On Wednesday Aztar Corporation, based in Pheonix, Arizona, reported record financial results for the second quarter of 2005, the strongest quarter results in its history. A highlight was the 50% year-over-year increase in EBITDA at its Tropicana Atlantic City property, due largely to the continuing success of The Quarter, a retail and dining Havana-style expansion opened in November last year. It is the only indoor dining/entertainment/retail complex in Atlantic City and also has the largest hotel and third largest casino.

During the second quarter casino revenue at the Tropicana Atlantic City grew 25% “significantly outpacing the market” according to Robert M Haddock, Aztar’s Chairman, President and CEO. The lucrative market draws players from the surrounding New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania areas. The casino has 4,300 slot machines and 80 gaming tables, including poker.

The company’s other casino operations include riverboats at Evansville, Indiana – the first to open in the state - and Caruthersville, Missouri, and two properties in Nevada. The riverboat operations continued ‘their outstanding performance’ but results in Nevada were not so encouraging. The Ramada Express Hotel and Casino located in Laughlin, with 1,440 slot machines and 30 table games, performed on par but the Tropicana Las Vegas’s 1,333 slot machines and 35 table games brought a slight drop in revenue at a time when figures from Nevada are breaking records.

The Famous Tropicana Resort and Casino calls itself ‘The Tropicana – The Way Las Vegas Was Meant To Be’ and is well positioned on the Strip, on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard close to the MGM Grand, Excalibur, Luxor, Monte Carlo and NewYork-New York. Aztar has confirmed its intention of taking advantage of the 34-acre site’s premier location and proximity to McCarran International Airport. Architects are preparing plans initially for 17 acres and the hotel will not be taking room reservations after November.

Following the release of the Second-Quarter 2005 results, Aztar shares rose 0.72% on the New York Stock Exchange. The company anticipates that the expanded facilities at the Atlantic City Tropicana will permit it to continue to drive significant additional revenue growth and margin expansion. (E-07.22.05)

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