Full House CEO: No impact from coronavirus ‘yet”’
Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts Inc. reported Thursday that while the coronavirus has not yet hit any of its properties, it’s weathering for a potential storm.
CEO Dan Lee told investors Thursday the company, which operates casinos in Mississippi, Colorado, Indiana and Nevada, has seen “no discernable impact” from the outbreak so far.
Unlike other casinos, Lee said Full House properties have almost no convention and meeting business, and very few fly-in guests. Lee added that the number of people visiting has remained stable amid the outbreak.
“I’m not saying we don’t expect an impact,” he said. “Just that we haven’t seen an impact yet.”
Full House properties will plan to stay open amid the outbreak.
“If we end up closing, it’s more a political thing than a real health concern,” Lee said. “And I’d be concerned for our employees.”
He added mobile gaming, which bring in a “pretty significant chunk” of the company’s income, remains strong and should continue to ramp up over the coming months as more states go on line.
“It’s possible that mobile gaming benefits from this,” Lee said. “You can stay home and bet online all day long. So we’ve had a significant portion of future earnings of this company that would be immune to something like this.”
While the company admitted the situation may change, business activity has not yet shown any discernible impact from the virus or stock market movements. Unlike other casinos, including many on the Strip, Full House properties don’t have a large meeting and convention business, and few customers travel by air.
Like other casino operators, Full House has implemented additional cleaning and disinfection procedures; on Wednesday, it began testing employee temperatures with infrared monitors as they arrive for work. Those with a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit are told to return home and contact their health care provider. So far, there no Full House employees have shown to have a fever.
Overall, Lee remained confident the company would get through the outbreak and the stock market’s rout.
“We intend to be a survivor,” he said. “We’re going to come out of this just fine, and the company will be just fine.”
Shares for full house were down 40.1 percent to $1.04 Thursday morning.
Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.
