Century Casinos Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 7, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Century Casinos reported record second-quarter results, with net operating revenue rising 1% to $152 million and Adjusted EBITDAR increasing 5% to $31.7 million.
  • Positive Sentiment: North American operations drove performance, with U.S. revenue up 5% and EBITDAR up 12%; first-half U.S. EBITDAR increased 16%. The Nugget was a standout, with revenue up 16% and EBITDAR up more than 93% for its third consecutive quarter of growth.
  • Positive Sentiment: Management expects continued momentum, citing strong July EBITDA growth, the ramp-up of recent capital investments, lower planned 2026 capital expenditures of approximately $15 million, and net leverage falling below 6x by year-end.
  • Negative Sentiment: Poland materially underperformed because of the Hilton Warsaw closure, startup losses at the new Wroclaw casino, and unusually low table-game hold; second-quarter EBITDAR was approximately $0.1 million. Management said July improved but characterized normalized annual EBITDAR potential as closer to $8 million than the previously cited $10 million.
  • Neutral Sentiment: The company is exploring sales of its international operations in Canada and Poland to become more U.S.-centric and reduce leverage, with potential transaction announcements before year-end, though no definitive agreements have been reached.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Century Casinos Q2 2026
00:00 / 00:00

Transcript Sections

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Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's Century Casinos Q2 2026 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, you will have the opportunity to ask questions during the question-and-answer session. You may register to ask a question at any time by pressing the star and one on your telephone keypad. Please note this call is being recorded, and I will be standing by if you should need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Peter Hoetzinger. Please go ahead, sir.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our earnings call. First, we would like to remind everyone that we will be discussing forward-looking information under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. federal security laws. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, actual results may differ from those projected. Throughout our call, we refer to several non-GAAP financial measures, including but not limited to Adjusted EBITDAR. Reconciliations of our non-GAAP measures to the appropriate GAAP measures can be found in our news releases and SEC filings, available in the investor section of our website at cnty.com. With me today are my Co-CEO, Erwin Haitzmann, our CFO, Margaret Stapleton, as well as our new Executive VP of U.S. Operations, Lyle Randolph. After our prepared remarks, we'll open the call for questions from analysts.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

I'm pleased to report that our diversified portfolio delivered a strong, solid quarter as net operating revenue came in at $152 million, a 1% increase over Q2 of last year. Adjusted EBITDAR was $31.7 million, a 5% increase. Both are all-time records for us. We've never had higher revenues and higher EBITDAR in the second quarter in the history of the company. Congrats to all staff members and management teams at our properties. The results reflect the continued benefits of our diversified business model, the success of our recent capital investment program, and growth in play across our casino portfolio. Poland spoiled the party a bit. That segment was underperforming due to the closure of the casino at the Hilton Hotel in Warsaw, as well as an unusually low hold on the gaming tables. We are hopeful and already see signs for improved performance over the next several quarters.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

Moving away from Poland, I want you to focus on the North American operations, which had a great quarter and which generate around 90% of our total results. Going forward, the core operational metric that we will focus on will be U.S. plus Canada, plus corporate. That EBITDAR was up a strong 12% in Q2 and up 17% year to date. Every single property in our North American portfolio has grown revenue as well as EBITDAR year to date, with most properties growing EBITDAR by double digits year-over-year. In more detail, in the second quarter, U.S. revenue and EBITDAR were up 5% and 12%, respectively, Canadian revenue and EBITDAR were up 2% and 11%, respectively, QoQ.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

Highlights of the quarter were the tremendous performance at the Nugget, with revenue and EBITDAR up 16% and 93%, respectively, as well as strong performances in both Missouri and Colorado. We continued to increase operating efficiencies throughout the business, delivering higher property operating margins than last year. The average margin of the U.S. properties increased from 24% to 26%. In Canada, the margin grew from 28% to 30%. In the quarter, we benefited from growth across tour and retail customers, as well as from a predominantly local repeat customer base, our diversified portfolio, and limited exposure to new supply. As mentioned in our last call, we've been seeing solid customer trends since around December of last year, despite higher gas prices.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

At most of our properties, the majority of our customers live within a 45-minute drive, and the overall economy, inflation, and especially employment, are more impactful than gas prices alone. I would say we also benefit from guests staying closer to home and spending their dollars closer to home for the last several quarters, especially as a result of the general economic factors, including high airfares and gas prices. Last but not least, we benefited from strong returns from the capital investments we made over the last 2+ years. These investments have finally entered the contribution phase, contributing to meaningful EBITDAR growth. With that, I'm very happy to introduce you to Lyle Randolph, our new Executive VP of U.S. Operations. Lyle will provide more granularity and background on our U.S. properties, which drive approximately 75% of our total revenue and EBITDAR. Lyle, go ahead, please.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

Thank you, Peter. Good morning, everyone. Across our U.S. operations, a clear pattern continues to emerge. We are seeing a portfolio that is performing with greater consistency. We are seeing operational improvements translating into stronger financial results. Most importantly, we're seeing the operational work of the past several years begin to pay off. Across our seven U.S. properties, we have invested in our gaming floors, improved our marketing, strengthened our operations, and remained focused on creating a better guest experience. None of this happened overnight, but those efforts are coming together, and the second quarter provides another strong example. During Q2, our U.S. operations generated $111.6 million of net operating revenue, an increase of 5% over the prior year. Adjusted EBITDAR increased 12% to $28.9 million. Importantly, Adjusted EBITDAR grew more than twice as fast as revenue, demonstrating continued operating leverage across the portfolio.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

That momentum extends beyond the quarter. Through the first six months of 2026, U.S. net operating revenue increased 5%, while Adjusted EBITDAR increased 16% over the first half of 2025. That is an increase of $7.2 million in Adjusted EBITDAR in the first half of the year from the U.S. properties. That consistency in growth is the real story. As we take a step back and look broadly across the portfolio, we're reminded that Century does not simply operate seven casinos. We operate seven unique destinations across five gaming jurisdictions, each with its own history, customer base, and competitive position. Together, they represent an important piece of America's regional gaming heritage.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

From Rocky Gap, the only casino resort operating within a state park in America, to Mountaineer, where the world's first racino pioneered a new chapter of regional gaming, to the riverboat gaming history of Missouri, to Colorado's historic gold mining communities, and finally to the Nugget, one of northern Nevada's iconic gaming brands. Each property brings something different. Our strategy is to preserve what makes each one unique while applying a disciplined operating approach that drives stronger and more consistent results. Beginning in the West, the Nugget continues to demonstrate why we believe it represents one of the greatest opportunities within our U.S. portfolio. Net operating revenue increased 16%, while adjusted EBITDA increased more than 93%. More importantly, this was Nugget's third consecutive quarter of year-over-year adjusted EBITDA growth. The Nugget had a strong entertainment calendar in the second quarter.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

The Brooks & Dunn concert in April sold more than 7,800 tickets, and the Keith Urban show in June contributed to over a quarter million dollars in incremental profit. The Nugget story is much broader than concerts. Slot coin-in increased approximately 6%. Hotel cash revenue increased more than 36%. Hotel occupancy increased 19%, and year-to-date retail room nights reached a three-year high. We are also making better use of the hotel during historically softer periods. Transient corporate room nights increased more than 300% during the quarter. We continue to improve the casino itself through gaming floor optimization, stronger marketing, player development, and a greater focus on the local customer. We are also seeing improvement in the quality of the business. The number of guests generating more than 400 in average daily theoretical increased approximately 20%.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

The Nugget is an iconic brand with a significant hotel and convention operation and includes a major entertainment venue. Our opportunity continues to be to make all of those pieces work better together. The last three quarters of the Nugget tell us that the strategy is not only gaining traction, but we still believe there is still significant runway ahead. Moving on to the Midwest region, our Missouri properties continue to be consistent performers. Our Missouri properties combined have now delivered seven consecutive quarters of year-over-year adjusted EBITDA growth. Combined net operating revenue increased over 8% in the second quarter combined. Adjusted EBITDA increased 9.6% at Cape Girardeau and 5.5% at Caruthersville. Just as encouraging is the breadth across of that growth. Across Missouri, theoretical win increased across all of our broader player segments.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

At Cape Girardeau, we continue to see the benefits of improving an established property and becoming more sophisticated in how we engage with our customers. The Riverview Hotel, our food and beverage amenities, our event center, our retail BetMGM Sportsbook provide additional reasons to visit and more opportunities to extend the customer relationship beyond the casino floor. At Caruthersville, the story is the continued maturing of our investment in that market. Second quarter net operating revenue increased nearly $1.2 million. Rated gaming revenue increased 32%, and unique guests increased 9%. More importantly, unique guests traveling more than 50 mi increased 15%. That tells us that the new property is not simply serving the existing local customer, it is expanding Caruthersville's geographic reach. During the quarter, Caruthersville generated its highest quarterly gross gaming revenue, net revenue, coin-in, and slot win in the property's history.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

The performance stands out beyond just our own portfolio. For Missouri's fiscal year reported by the Missouri Gaming Commission ending in June, Caruthersville recorded the highest percentage increase in adjusted gross revenue among all 13 casinos in the state. Collectively, Century's Missouri operations also generated the highest year-over-year percentage growth in gaming revenue of any casino operator in the state. We remain very encouraged by the underlying strength of our Midwest region and the continued maturing of our Caruthersville investment. Let's shift now over into the East region with Rocky Gap. Rocky Gap delivered a resilient second quarter despite a more challenging competitive and consumer environment. There were several encouraging underlying trends. Slot coin-in increased approximately 2%, golf cash revenue increased nearly 13%, and hotel room nights increased.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

Net operating revenue was down slightly less than 1%, with essentially all of that decline concentrated in the hotel cash revenue and table games. Importantly, disciplined expense management helped offset those pressures, and Adjusted EBITDAR essentially remained flat. That performance is notable given softer regional gaming trends and the April opening of Happy Valley Casino in State College, Pennsylvania. We are also reminded that through the first half of the year, Rocky Gap's Adjusted EBITDAR remains 9% ahead of prior year. We remain encouraged by the resilience of the business and will continue leveraging Rocky Gap's unique position as a true destination resort. In our East region, Mountaineer remains one of the foundational assets within our U.S. portfolio. Once again this quarter, Mountaineer generated the highest gaming revenue of any property in our company. This reflects the strength of its longstanding customer base in the market.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

That market surrounding Mountaineer continues to evolve. Customers today have more gaming options than ever before, including online gaming and mature casino and sports wagering locations. Importantly, these developments do not suggest that demand for gaming has weakened. Rather, they reinforce that the way guests choose to engage with gaming and entertainment continues to change. We believe that creates an opportunity to deliver the experiences guests cannot replicate elsewhere. Mountaineer's combination of casino gaming, live horse racing, hotel, dinner, and entertainment options provide a unique platform to compete in this changing environment. In quarter two, Mountaineer saw growth in sports betting and iGaming, and horse racing revenue increased nearly 40%. At the same time, slots, tables, and hotel revenue were slightly softer. There were some encouraging customer trends. Gaming revenue from our highest value, 400+ ADT customers, increased 7%, and revenue from younger customers, 21 to 39, increased 31%.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

The hotel comparison also requires some context. Last year, second quarter benefited from a large construction group that contributed nearly a half million dollars of business before those stays ended in June of 2025. Adjusting for that group, second quarter profitability would have been approximately flat with prior year. Through the first half of 2026, Mountaineer Adjusted EBITDAR still remains 6% ahead of last year. Mountaineer provides opportunity as it also has the largest active customer database in our company, which provides a significant tool as we continue refining segmentation, reinvestment, and player development. The property's racing heritage remains an important differentiator. This year marks the 75th year of horse racing at Mountaineer. This weekend is the 56th running of the West Virginia Derby. Our focus is to build upon that heritage while creating gaming, entertainment, and hospitality experiences that give customers compelling reasons to visit the property.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

Moving to Colorado, we see encouraging momentum. Central City delivered one of the strongest performances in the U.S. portfolio. Net operating revenue increased approximately 11.5%, while Adjusted EBITDAR increased more than 32%. Guest volume increased 16%, coin-in increased nearly 20%, and hotel occupancy reached 74%. Through the first half of 2026, Central City nearly doubled Adjusted EBITDAR compared with the prior year. The quality of that growth is also encouraging. We saw improvement across carded and non-carded play, while marketing expenses declined as we shifted toward more targeted, detailed initiatives. Central City is not simply generating more revenue, we are becoming more efficient in how we generate it. At Cripple Creek, net operating revenue increased 2%, and Adjusted EBITDAR for the first six months is well ahead of last year. We also saw growth in both rated and unrated play and an increase in unique carded guests.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

Looking forward, remain optimistic about both markets. In Central City, continued public investment in the Gregory Plaza and the historic district leading up to the hill to Central City should create additional reasons for visitors to explore beyond Black Hawk's primary casino corridor. In Cripple Creek, we continue to view the evolution of Chamonix as an opportunity in both the short and long term. As Chamonix continues refining its operations and guest experience, Century remains well-positioned to compete for guests seeking a convenient and established alternative. Looking further ahead, we believe that a successful destination resort directly across the street has the potential to increase overall visitation to Cripple Creek, creating a larger and more vibrant market from which Century is in a great position to benefit. Taken together, our Colorado properties continue to illustrate an important element of Century's operating philosophy.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

While we cannot always control how our markets evolve, we can control how effectively we position ourselves to benefit from that evolution. As we look at all of our U.S. operations, what encourages us the most is not any single property, it is the consistency of the progress. Missouri continues its sustained quarter-over-quarter growth. Colorado continues to build momentum. The Nugget has now delivered three consecutive quarters of Adjusted EBITDAR growth. In our East region, we continue to protect profitability and build upon the unique strengths of those properties. Taken together, we believe this represents something larger than a single successful quarter. The operational foundation we have been building is producing more consistent, higher quality results. Again, through the first half of 2026, net operating revenue at our U.S. properties increased approximately 5% and Adjusted EBITDAR increased nearly 16%.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

This is not the result of any one promotion, entertainment event, or favorable comparison. It is the result of hundreds of operational decisions being made every day across seven properties by teams that understand their markets. Looking ahead, our priorities remain clear. We will invest where we see the strongest returns. We will continue improving gaming floor productivity and becoming more sophisticated in how we engage our customers. We will maximize the value of our hotels, entertainment, and other amenities. Importantly, we will continue sharing what works across the organization. We are building one operating philosophy around seven authentic regional destinations. Each has its own history. Each has its own competitive advantages.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

Our responsibility is to preserve what makes them unique while applying the operating discipline that can make each of them stronger. We remain confident that our U.S operations are well-positioned to deliver profitable growth, disciplined returns, and long-term value for our shareholders. Thank you.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

All right. Thank you, Lyle. I will now give more color on Canada and Poland, our international operations. Century Casinos' Canadian operations delivered another solid quarter, with net operating revenue increasing 2.2% year-over-year to $20.4 million. Adjusted EBITDAR increasing 11% to $6.2 million. This performance reflects the results of the capital investments and operational improvements we've made in Canada over the last several quarters. Growth was broad-based, with all four Alberta properties contributing higher net operating revenue, led by strong performances at Century Mile and Century St. Albert. Century Mile achieved its highest quarterly EBITDAR since opening, surpassing its previous record established in the first quarter, while Century St. Albert delivered record coin-in during both May and June, following the benefits of its 2025 property enhancements. We also demonstrated expense discipline as total operating expenses declined 1.3%, driven primarily by lower payroll costs.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

Operationally, the Alberta portfolio continues to benefit from growing customer awareness of the newly introduced Celly's Sports Bar & Lounge concept, while market share trends remain encouraging. Century Mile significantly outpaced overall Edmonton market growth, with coin-in increasing 11.2% year-over-year. Century St. Albert also exceeded the broader market with 6.2% growth. Looking ahead, management is focused on leveraging Alberta's newly launched open online sports betting and iGaming market by utilizing upgraded sportsbook-ready facilities across all four properties while monitoring any long-term impacts on visitation and gaming revenue. The company also continues to defend its competitive position in the Edmonton market following the court decision requiring the proposed Camrose casino relocation process to restart, delaying a potential new competitor near Century Mile. With continued investment in player development, disciplined capital spending, and favorable competitive dynamics, the Canadian operations remain well-positioned to build on their strong first-half performance. Poland.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

Century Casinos' operation in Poland continued through a period of significant portfolio transition during the second quarter, making year-over-year comparisons less meaningful. Results reflect the closure of the Hilton Warsaw Casino in June 2025, following the non-renewal of its gaming license, as well as the continued ramp-up of the company's Wroclaw operations. The newly opened Wroclaw Casino, which began operations in February 2026 in the historic Hotel Korona, overlooking Wroclaw's renowned Market Square, generated expected startup losses as the property builds awareness and establishes its customer base. Wroclaw is Poland's fourth-largest city and one of the country's fastest-growing economic centers, recognized for its thriving technology sector, major universities, and vibrant tourism industry. Although startup costs weighed on second quarter results, management believes this flagship location represents an attractive long-term opportunity as visitation and customer awareness continue to build.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

In addition, table game hold at the Presidential Warsaw Casino was significantly below historical averages during June, reducing gaming revenue by approximately $1 million versus theoretical expectations. These factors contributed to the reported net operating revenue of $19.9 million and Adjusted EBITDAR of approximately $0.1 million for the quarter. Despite these temporary headwinds, the underlying outlook for the Polish business is increasingly stable. Prior year comparisons were also affected by approximately $450,000 of one-time Adjusted EBITDAR add backs recorded in the second quarter of 2025, consisting of pre-opening costs and expenses related to the Hilton Warsaw closure, further reducing comparability between periods. More importantly, Century has now completed the transition of its portfolio, with no gaming license expirations scheduled over the next two years. Back to you, Peter.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

Thank you, Erwin. I'll now go over some balance sheet items and share our outlook for the rest of the year with you. Our cash and cash equivalents as of June 30 were $60.2 million, up slightly from the first quarter. During Q2, we invested $3.1 million in CapEx, primarily on gaming equipment, bringing year-to-date CapEx to $5.7 million. For the second half of the year, the CapEx forecast is approximately $9.5 million, resulting in total CapEx for 2026 of about $15 million. Total debt outstanding was $336.5 million, resulting in net debt of $276.2 million, a small improvement over the previous quarter. At the end of the quarter, our net debt to EBITDA ratio improved to 6.5x, which excludes the one-time deferred rents on Colorado Springs, which we paid off early this year.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

We now expect that ratio to further reduce to well below 6x by the end of the year. As liquidity improves, we look for opportunities to reduce our debt balances. I'd also like to note that we have no debt maturities for three years from now, that is until Q2 of 2029. As mentioned in previous earnings calls, 2026 is a year of execution and harvesting for us, and we are off to a good start. I would say that July seems very much like another month with double-digit EBITDA growth, which is great. Across the board, we're actually feeling really good for the remainder of the year.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

Even Poland had a much better July, generating almost as much EBITDA in the month as it did in the entire first half of the year. The regional consumer has been remarkably resilient through the noise that we've seen in the last couple of quarters. Regional and local business feels solid. We expect to continue to benefit from strong improvements and performances at The Nugget, as well as in Colorado, and from the continued ramp of the new land-based facility in Colorado Springs. Cash flow-wise, in addition to higher EBITDA, we expect to benefit from decreasing CapEx. Whilst we spent a total of $18 last year, we expect that to come down to around $15 this year. As things move forward, we remain focused on improving our free cash flow generation by optimizing our corporate overheads and remaining disciplined with our capital.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

In all, we are pleased with our second quarter performance, which was driven by our diversified business model, broad-based growth in play from our core retail customers, and the success of our recent capital investments. That concludes our remarks, we are now ready to take questions from analysts. Operator, go ahead please.

Operator

At this time, we will open the question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone keypad and you'll be placed into the queue in the order received. You may remove yourself from the queue at any time by pressing pound and one. If we do not get to your question, please reach out to the company using the investor relations page at cnty.com. Once again, to ask a question, please press star and one on your phone now. Our first question comes from Jeff Stantial of Stifel.

Jeff Stantial
Jeff Stantial
Analyst at Stifel

Thanks for taking our questions. Maybe starting off in the U.S. and specifically in Missouri, really strong quarter here. Curious just how much you think this has been driven or helped by the February ruling on skill games and enforcement that seemed to have start late Q1, early Q2. Moving forward, if this has been a big tailwind for those assets, how do you think about this moving forward, just based on your read of how many machines that were previously in the state have been rendered inactive and sort of the pace of enforcement going forward? Thanks.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

Okay. Thanks for the question, Jeff. Lyle, why don't you take that, please?

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

Yeah. Absolutely. Obviously, we're very excited about the action that the Missouri Attorney General took this spring and with the ruling regarding these illegal games in the state. We do think that there's positive impact. In Q2, those impacts were likely kind of spread closer to the end of the quarter, as we still saw locally, especially still locations that had those games. In fact, we still see some of those, we think that there's still continued improvement with the enforcement that we may even see additional opportunity as Missouri begins to enforce the law and get those illegal games out of these locations.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

All right.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Jordan Bender of Citizens.

Jordan Bender
Jordan Bender
Analyst at Citizens

Hey, everyone. Good morning, thanks for the question. Lyle, welcome. I actually want to maybe start with you ran through a lot of comments and a very comprehensive kind of overview of the portfolio. In the couple of months that you've been here, I guess, can you just talk about any of the low-hanging fruit that you think can immediately be addressed to help. The assets seem to be performing pretty well, but are there any kind of low-hanging fruit to help these assets perform even better that you can see over the last couple of months?

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

As I mentioned, a lot of the groundwork has been set, certainly one of the keys is that we want to ensure that our slot floors are maximized for each of the markets. One of the things we're seeing is that the slot customer is changing. Today, a customer may see a game on social media, they may watch an influencer playing it, they come in, they expect to find that game. We want to be competitive in that environment. That means getting newer games and product on the floor, whether that's conversions, just making sure we're utilizing our leased product as best we can. We're going to be very careful about how we do that. We just want to maximize our return on that investment.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

We may not, in some of our markets, be able to compete with the newest building. What we can do is we can compete on the quality of the gaming experience on those gaming floors. To me, that's the key piece. That's what the rest of the business will revolve around, right? Making sure that we have the games people want to play, the slot floors optimized, all the other pieces start to come together. We can start driving database marketing and pushing those people in to give us another try. There's large opportunities within our inactive and really that deep inactive to get people back to these properties and to show them the improvements that we've made. Again, I see opportunity really across the portfolio.

Jordan Bender
Jordan Bender
Analyst at Citizens

That was great. Thank you. Maybe on the follow-up or just in general, Alberta online gaming just launched a couple of weeks ago. Are you guys seeing any cannibalization from your properties for people who are now just playing at Casino Online?

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

Thanks for the question. No, we don't. Maybe it's too early, maybe it's not happening at all. It may well be that it's mutual fertilization to an extent.

Jordan Bender
Jordan Bender
Analyst at Citizens

Great. Thank you.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

Thank you.

Operator

Our next question comes from Chad Beynon of Macquarie Group.

Aaron Lee
Aaron Lee
Analyst at Macquarie

Hey, good morning, guys. This is Aaron on for Chad. Thanks for taking the question. Nice results from The Nugget again this quarter. Looks like everything's coming together really nicely there. Can you just remind us what operational initiatives, if any, remain unfinished at that property and how much incremental EBITDAR opportunity you believe remains over the next, let's say, 12 to 24 months?

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

Yeah, great question, Aaron. It's a question we ask ourselves, and we can give a detailed answer. Again, Lyle, why don't you take it and guide Aaron through what we've mapped out?

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

Yeah, I think that these initiatives are ongoing, and we're seeing the results of those each week. As we see the results coming in, we're continuing to see where we've made adjustments, and we're seeing the positive results from that. With that being said, we still think that there's a lot of ramp up and a lot of opportunity as we move forward. We're going to try to, again, as was previously mentioned, look for the lowest hanging fruit and try to adjust those things. The things we can move quickly are making sure that obviously expenses that we're controlling those pieces. Again, driving additional gaming revenue that's going to flow quickly, and again, making sure that our database marketing and our marketing efforts in general are focused on driving the right things.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

If you would go out to The Nugget and you would see, these entertainment events, all the different things. We had the 4th of July celebration that brought 10,000 people to the property, around our facility. Those things are bringing people, and the market is there. Again, we just have to make sure we're prepared to maximize the revenue and the profitability as we bring those folks in, and that's what we're going to be focused on.

Aaron Lee
Aaron Lee
Analyst at Macquarie

Great. That's perfect. Thank you for that color. Then maybe one on Poland. Can you just give us some more color on the signs of improvement that you mentioned in that market, and how we should be thinking about the balance of the year as Wroclaw ramps? Thank you.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

Yeah. That's harder to predict. By experience, we know every time we open a new location, there's a certain ramp-up time, and we see that now with the Wroclaw casino as well. We hope that in the second quarter, this new second Wroclaw casino will ramp up to the full capacity. Other than that, we've just been rattled with these changes in the licensing. That is now more quietly stable. As we said earlier, we don't have any new licenses coming up during the next two years. Whilst it's hard to predict, we're positive that all the various elements that we had will come back together again soon.

Aaron Lee
Aaron Lee
Analyst at Macquarie

Okay. Thank you, guys. Good luck.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

Thank you.

Operator

Our next question comes from Ryan Sigdahl of Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

Ryan Sigdahl
Ryan Sigdahl
Analyst at Craig-Hallum Capital Group

Hey, good day, guys, welcome Lyle, to the call. Lyle, you mentioned theoretical win increased across several of the properties. I know slot optimization you mentioned, but I guess curious given fairly known casino floor theoretical wins, I guess, what's the driving force there?

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

Look, yeah, we absolutely have seen the improved player. I think most of that is really driven in two aspects. Again, we're making sure that we have the slot product that people want to play on the floor, particularly those higher value customers, then marketing to them in the right way. Those two pieces, again, we see that across multiple properties. Even in some properties where we may have a little bit of decline in some of the lower segments, all of our properties saw that higher ADT customer improve.

Lyle Randolph
Lyle Randolph
EVP of Operations for the United States at Century Casinos

Again, I think that's what you're going to see as we continue to work to make sure that we've optimized the slot floor, and then really trying to go out and we have to then tell the people, tell those customers that maybe have not visited in a while, "Here's the reason to come back."

Ryan Sigdahl
Ryan Sigdahl
Analyst at Craig-Hallum Capital Group

Thanks. Then, maybe for Peter or Erwin. Poland, historically, I thought of this as kind of a $10 million a year EBITDAR business. I know several negative moving pieces in Q2 that sound like they've improved in July. I guess, is that still the right assumption or how should we think about that business or how do you think about it on a go-forward basis?

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

I'm hesitant to predict. Peter, how do you feel about it? The elements are there to come back to the $10 million, but it's hard to say how and how quickly.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

Yeah, I would say also that table hold has normalized since June. That's also helped the July results. Overall, I think $10 million was really the upper range that we saw over the last, say, five to six, seven years. I think we had it right after COVID. The normalized number is more around $8 million, I would say. As you know, we own 2/3 of it.

Ryan Sigdahl
Ryan Sigdahl
Analyst at Craig-Hallum Capital Group

Helpful. Thanks, guys.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

Thanks.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

Thank you.

Operator

Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone keypad. Our next question comes from Connor Parks of CBRE.

Connor Parks
Connor Parks
Analyst at CBRE

Hey, everyone. Thanks for taking our questions. Lyle, good to hear from you this morning. With all the major properties performing well, another quarter of solid growth here and free cash flow turning a corner, how has this impacted the portfolio sale discussions, and M&A conversation, if at all? Then I guess somewhat related to that, my usual question on the term loan, where are we in the review process, and where are the puts and takes of how you are thinking about the de-leveraging discussion? Thank you.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

Okay. Peter, can you take that, please?

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

Yes, happy to. In terms of the sales process, as you know, over the last about three quarters or so, we've looked very hard at that, given the diverse nature of our portfolio, we've explored a number of different avenues to unlock value. We're currently focused on monetizing our international operations to become a fully U.S.-centric company and reduce leverage. We make progress on these initiatives slowly but surely. Poland is the more difficult one with the war next door and that changing regulatory environment. Currently, two groups are in due diligence works. We've not given exclusivity to anybody. Let's see what the outcome there is. We should, yeah, get more clarity in a couple of months, but very hard to say. In Canada, we have two packages.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

We could sell all four together or we go the direction of selling the two racinos in one package and the two commercial casinos in another package. There's interest for both. Again, one is a little bit more ahead than the other. We think that at least for one of those packages, we should be able to publicly disclose something well before the end of the year. That impacts the term loan B pay down, because with our current cash position, yes, we have some freely available, but we'd rather wait until we have more clarity on the asset sales, and then we can make a meaningful pay down. Also, we are in discussion with our lenders to get more flexibility. This is all ongoing and that's all I can comment on.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

We continue to make progress on all these initiatives, and we'll update the market when we have definitive transactions to announce.

Connor Parks
Connor Parks
Analyst at CBRE

Great. Thank you. I really appreciate the color there. Then maybe just last one from me to ask the Alberta iGaming and sports betting question the other way. Is there any opportunity in Alberta to be able to partner with any of these operators that have entered the market, or is there a potential for new customers coming into the casinos as they're exposed to iGaming opportunities or anything of that sort? Thanks.

Erwin Haitzmann
Erwin Haitzmann
Chairman and Co-CEO at Century Casinos

I wouldn't see anything.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

Well, for the retail, for the sports bar, that's a possibility for our retail sports book. Not so much for online, I would agree with Erwin there. It also depends on how those sales negotiations are developing. Some interested parties have their own goals or ways of handling that, and some not. At the moment, we play it by ear. Some of those sports betting companies have knocked on our doors, and we are in, let's say, early-stage talks again because we want to wait and see what those sales processes bring.

Connor Parks
Connor Parks
Analyst at CBRE

Great. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

Yeah. Thanks, Connor.

Operator

That is all the time we have for today. If we did not get to your question, please reach out to the company using the investor relations page at cnty.com. I will now turn the call back to Mr. Hoetzinger for closing remarks.

Peter Hoetzinger
Peter Hoetzinger
Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman at Century Casinos

I thank everybody, and we appreciate you joining our call today. We'll talk again in early November to discuss the results of the third quarter. Until then, thanks a lot and goodbye.

Operator

Thank you. This does conclude today's Century Casinos Q2 2026 earnings call. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

Executives
    • Peter Hoetzinger
      Peter Hoetzinger
      Co-CEO, President, and Vice Chairman
    • Lyle Randolph
      Lyle Randolph
      EVP of Operations for the United States
    • Erwin Haitzmann
      Erwin Haitzmann
      Chairman and Co-CEO
Analysts
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