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MGM In Deep Shit

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...refer=worldwide

MGM Mirage Says Auditors Question Ability to Continue

By Beth Jinks

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- MGM Mirage, the casino operator controlled by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, said auditors questioned its ability to stay in business as the company won a two-month bank reprieve to restructure its debts.

Auditors raised “substantial doubt” about MGM Mirage’s ability to continue, the largest casino owner on the Las Vegas Strip said today in a regulatory filing. The company also reported a $1.15 billion fourth-quarter loss after writing down properties because of shrinking gambling revenue.

The auditor’s comments increase the likelihood MGM Mirage will seek bankruptcy protection from creditors. Banks granted waivers on the $7 billion bank-loan facility until May 15. The company said on March 3 it was in talks to avert a potential breach of covenants.

In exchange for the temporary covenant waivers, MGM Mirage is prohibited from prepaying or repurchasing other long-term debt or selling assets, the filing said. The company will also repay $300 million of the fully drawn revolving loan, and accepted a 100-basis-point increase in the interest rate.

MGM Mirage can also only fund construction of its Las Vegas CityCenter project if partner Dubai World also finances its half of the costs, the company said in the filing. The casino company reiterated today that it will finish the project on schedule.

The net loss in the fourth quarter amounted to $4.15 a share and compared with net income of $872.2 million, or $2.85 a share, a year earlier, the owner of 10 Las Vegas Strip casinos said.

Fourth-Quarter Results

Fourth-quarter revenue fell 16 percent to $1.62 billion from $1.93 billion a year earlier, missing the $1.71 billion average estimate of 16 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

The casino company said property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, an indicator of cash flow, fell to $327 million. Gambling revenue slid 17 percent across all of MGM Mirage’s properties because of a 17 percent slump in Las Vegas table game betting and a 12 percent decline in slot-machine takings.

Revenue per available room, a measure of rates and occupancy known as Revpar, tumbled 21 percent at MGM Mirage’s Strip properties in the fourth quarter, as occupancy dropped to 85 percent from 93 percent a year earlier, and the company charged on average $31 a night less for rooms in Las Vegas.

Total non-gambling revenue slipped 9 percent, MGM Mirage said. In Macau, where MGM Mirage has a joint venture casino resort, property Ebitda was $17 million.

Mandalay Writedown

MGM Mirage said Jan. 9 it would write down the value of the Mandalay Resort Group by $1.2 billion because cash flow at the casino company acquired in 2005 has weakened and buyers are paying less for gambling properties. Last year’s fourth quarter included a $1.03 billion gain from Dubai World’s investment in MGM’s CityCenter development on the Strip.

MGM Mirage has $1.28 billion in bonds due this year and another $1.12 billion maturing in 2010, according to Bloomberg data. The company has said it bought back some bonds trading at discounted levels. Long-term debt, including leases, totaled $13.5 billion as of Dec. 31, filings show.

MGM Mirage fell 18 cents, or 5.9 percent, to $2.85 in extended trading. The shares lost 20 cents to $3.03 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading and have declined 78 percent this year.

Gambling revenue in Las Vegas, the biggest betting center in the U.S., fell the most on record last year and continued to tumble in January, cutting sales at MGM Mirage, the owner of 10 casino resorts in the city including the Bellagio, Luxor and MGM Grand. MGM Mirage is the biggest employer in Nevada.

All Options

Chief Executive Officer James Murren, who replaced Terry Lanni in November, hired Evercore Partners to help restructure debt and has said he will consider any option, including casino sales and tender offers to buy discounted bonds, as he struggles to reduce debt and raise as much as $1.2 billion needed to finish CityCenter this year.

Murren agreed in December to sell the company’s Treasure Island casino, postponed the opening of one hotel and canceled a condominium development at CityCenter. Talks with Deutsche Bank AG on a loan plan to complete the project collapsed this month, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

MGM Mirage said separately today it extended repayment terms for Treasure Island buyer Phil Ruffin to repay the $175 million in financing he is receiving from the company to 36 months from 24 months. The $775 million purchase price may be reduced by $20 million, MGM Mirage said in another filing.

Murren’s predecessor Lanni, who resigned amid revelations he didn’t graduate with the master of business administration degree he claimed, shelved a planned Atlantic City development in October and mothballed a planned Strip venture with Kerzner International Ltd., owner of the Atlantis casino in the Bahamas.

Lanni also raised $750 million selling bonds with a 15 percent yield, offering investors a lien against MGM Mirage’s New York New York casino resort as collateral.