Monday, November 20, 2000 

By DAVE BERNS
lasvegas.com GAMING WIRE

   LAS VEGAS - A reconfigured slot floor, the high-end London Clubs 
casino and increased convention business have boosted recent results 
at the 3-month-old Aladdin.
   But the financially troubled Strip resort continues to deal with 
the results of its initial 44 days of operations, numbers that were 
solid during the property's first three weeks but poor in September.
   "September is always a very dicey month simply because of the 
back-to-school aspect," Aladdin Gaming Chief Executive Officer 
Richard Goeglein said during a Monday conference call with investors 
and bond analysts.
   The megaresort's parent company, Aladdin Gaming, is scheduled to 
make a $5 million payment to bank creditors at the end of December 
followed by an $11.7 million interest payment on Feb. 1.

   "Obviously with the tight liquidity, the operations need to perform 
relatively well going forward," said Aladdin Gaming Chief Financial 
Officer Tom Lettero. "We need to have a strong New Year's and a 
strong January in front of that interest payment."
   The Aladdin opened Aug. 18 and, during the period ended Sept. 30, 
the megaresort reported negative cash flow of $3.2 million on net 
revenue of $36.8 million, according to figures reported by the 
company last week to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
   The privately held hotel-casino was financed, in part, with public 
debt, prompting last week's SEC filing and the Monday conference call.
   The $1.4 billion property reported a net loss of $40.2 million and 
gross revenue of $40.6 million for the third quarter.
   The Aladdin's 135,000-square-foot casino generated revenue of $19.4 
million and its 2,567 hotel rooms saw an occupancy rate of 77 percent 
at an average nightly rate of $130.
  "We recognized as all of our predecessors had experienced that we in 
fact were going to be in a ramp-up period," Goeglein said, referring 
to the May 1999 opening of The Venetian and Paris' September 1999 
unveiling.

   The Aladdin Gaming chief executive officer noted that October's 
numbers were "quite good" with hotel occupancy at 94 percent and the 
average nightly room rate at $135.
   Goeglein said a survey of nearby casinos placed Paris' October 
occupancy rate at 96.5 percent with a nightly room rates of $136; 
Bally's at 94 percent and $100; and Bellagio and The Venetian at 90 
percent and slightly below $180.
  The Aladdin's initial weeks were plagued by operational and 
construction glitches that led to the removal of about 250 aging slot 
machines from the casino's main floor.
   Oversized slot games now sit along the casino's walls, no longer 
blocking sight lines from the adjacent Desert Passage shopping mall.
   A high-end slot area on the casino's main floor was moved to the 
second-floor setting of the London Clubs' high-roller casino, which 
Chief Operating Officer Bill Timmons said was cannibalizing that main 
floor play.

   Meantime, the Aladdin has seen a decline in the full-time 
equivalent of its work force from 4,500 to 3,500 positions "without 
any layoffs of consequence" Goeglein said, with the bulk of the 
decrease coming through attrition and the management of overtime.
   As for the near-future, the Aladdin Gaming executives said hotel 
and convention bookings look good, noting that the pre-Christmas 
weeks are generally a slow time for Las Vegas hotels.
   "We're very comfortable with where we believe the business levels 
will be in the first quarter," Lettero said. "The question for the 
company right now (is) as it ramps up for typically a very slow time 
of year."

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