MGM Resorts net soars, but shares fall 3 percent

By Deena Beasley

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - MGM Resorts International <MGM.N> reported a sharply higher net profit for the second quarter following the initial public offering of its Macau joint venture, but adjusted results failed to impress investors and shares fell nearly 3 percent.

MGM, which publicly listed the shares of its Macau unit in June, posted a net profit of $3.45 billion, or $6.22 a share, compared with a net loss of $883.5 million, or $2.00 a share, a year earlier. The latest results included a $3.5 billion gain from the Macau transaction.

Excluding such one-time items, analysts had expected a quarterly loss of 13 cents a share, but it was not immediately clear how actual results stacked up against those estimates.

MGM owns 10 resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, as well as casino-resorts in Mississippi and Michigan and joint ventures in New Jersey and Macau, the only place in China where gambling is legal.

"Overall, it was a decent quarter, with nice year-over-year revpar gains on the Strip, but likely not enough to fuel momentum back to the name in current climate," said Sterne Agee analyst David Bain, referring to a gauge of hotel performance.

MGM's quarterly net revenue rose 17 percent to $1.8 billion. Analysts had expected $1.59 billion.

MGM China Holdings Ltd <2282.HK> reported operating income of $170 million, up from $61 million a year earlier.

MGM reported a 10 percent increase for revenue per available room (revpar) in Las Vegas, where occupancy rose by 1 percentage points and average daily rates rose 9.6 percent, including resort fees.

Second-quarter casino revenue at wholly-owned domestic resorts rose 1 percent.

Shares of MGM, which fell nearly 9 percent to close at $11.54 on the New York Stock Exchange after a steep sell-off in the overall stock market, were lower at $11.10 after hours.

(Reporting by Deena Beasley; editing by Andre Grenon and Gunna Dickson)