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Trump Entertainment Resort Plans To Open Casino In Las Vegas

Casino operator Trump Entertainment Resorts expects profitability to improve in the third quarter of 2006 as the bankrupt company attracts more high-end customers, new chief executive James Perry said on Monday.

Perry, who was hired to turn around the company after it emerged from bankruptcy in May, said the company founded by Donald Trump wanted to run its Las Vegas casino by 2010 and would consider relocating abroad.

But first, we need to move on from the sidelines that have long neglected maintenance delays at Atlantic City's three properties and management, which focus on increasing customer numbers rather than attracting large consumers. "Margin will improve and trend very well from the third quarter," Perry said at the Reuters Hotel and Casino Summit in Los Angeles.

He said he aims to achieve an industry average profit margin of about 26% by the second half of 2007, up from about 20% in the third quarter in terms of interest, taxes, depreciation and pre-recurring profit margins. Key to success, he said, is attracting customers to cities, improving services and attracting high-end customers to attractions outside of gambling.

He was convinced that the company had traditionally been driven by a business model that focused more on quantity than quality, which attracted lower-cost customers and made it impossible to serve them.
Trump Entertainment, for example, aims to change its pay structure to compensate employees focused on cleanliness and capital improvement.


The company says it plans to spend $110 million over the next two years renovating the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Marina, buildings in Atlantic cities, and Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Plaza, as well as a hotel tower in the Trump Taj Mahal. Perry said he would explore opportunities to utilize the Trump brand globally, including in Macau, but said he would achieve the goal of 2008 or 2010.

Perry, who has suggested in the past that reorganization efforts could adversely affect sales in the short term, said sales growth would begin to exceed market growth in the second quarter of this year.

He added that Trump bears the industry's highest cost of selling games, including the cost of promotions to giveaways and attract customers, and that lowering those costs could significantly improve margins. But the task remains a challenge, as Trump Entertainment faces far more well-funded rivals in several markets, such as Harrer Entertainment.

Perry said it will start making higher profits in March and April, which will improve later. Presidents Day weekend is traditionally a big revenue-generating weekend for Atlantic City. Competition for Atlantic City is also coming up in Pennsylvania, where five parking lots are scheduled to open.

Trump Entertainment has applied for a license to develop a $350 million casino in Philadelphia, but this is only one of several bidders. Perry also said he wants to enter Las Vegas as soon as he can open a newly built full-service casino resort in the city around 2010. A joint venture project could come to fruition earlier than that. 파워볼사이트