Pinnacle revenue soars after Ameristar acquisition

Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment, which owns 14 casinos and two racinos in nine states, including Cactus Pete’s and the Horseshu in Jackpot, reported its third-quarter earnings Wednesday.

Company: Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: PNK)

Revenue: $418.9 million (up 63.6 percent from the third quarter of 2012).

Loss: $180.4 million (compared to a loss of $358,000 in the third quarter of 2012).

Loss per share: 80 cents (compared to earnings of 11 cents in the third quarter of 2012).

What it means: Pinnacle experienced a period of adjustment as it completed a $2.8 billion acquisition of Ameristar Casinos.

Revenue soared because of the merger, but the company still hasn’t realized all the savings or potential revenue of the transaction. Much of the company's losses were attributed to one-time transaction costs.

Company officials said combined net revenue and cash flow would have been $553.9 million and $140.5 million, respectively, had the Ameristar earnings been incorporated for the entire third quarter instead of only the 49 days included.

“We are pleased with how smoothly our merger with Ameristar has gone thus far," Pinnacle CEO Anthony Sanfilippo said. "The cultural similarities and motivated team members have been catalysts for rapid progress in achieving our integration objectives. With only 49 days of integration work, we estimate we have implemented changes that will drive over $20 million of recurring annual cost savings, or approximately half of the $40 million synergy target we indicated when announcing this transaction late last year.”

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