Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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John DeCree : Maybe two easy ones. Tom, maybe if you could give us a little bit of insight on how we should think about the seasonality in Las Vegas this year? Obviously, the last couple of years have been pretty noisy. 2Q and 4Q in 2022 were your largest quarters. Obviously, I think 2Q has some benefit from 1Q trips being deferred, but curious if you can give some insight for this year.

Tom Reeg: Yes. I would say you should expect a more normal year of seasonality in Vegas this year where early in the year, your soft ramp up in the kind of right about now in the first quarter, and that goes until it gets really hot here. Third quarter is the seasonal slowest point. Fourth quarter, you’ve got November is typically your slowest month of the year, but that’s when F1 will hit this year. So I think you get that bump that we talked about earlier in Joe’s question.

John DeCree : Got it. That’s helpful. And then 4Q in Las Vegas, I think maybe Anthony’s prepared remarks, you mentioned 16% or 17%, I forget, which group room nights is relatively high for you guys. Is that the right level that you guys think you’ll be at on an annualized basis going forward? Or is there more upside? Or what’s the right mix as you think about your kind of customer segments?

Tom Reeg : Yes. I’d expect with full-on group business with FORUM operating, I think you should expect us to continue to creep higher into the high teens in terms of percentage of overall room next year.

Operator: Our next question comes from David Katz with Jefferies.

David Katz : I wanted to go back to the subject of prospective asset sales and where you think the credit markets are in terms of support for that, both within and perhaps outside any pre-existing put calls or ROFRs, et cetera?

Tom Reeg : We are not active in that market, so I can’t speak with first-hand knowledge. I’d tell you today would have been a tough day to try to do something. But we were — the deal that we did in January by a number of metrics was one of the largest ones that’s happened in the credit markets generally and certainly in gaming in quite a while. So I wouldn’t describe it as credit markets are wide open. At this point, they have been getting better, but in an environment where the Fed is still raising, it’s still a dicey environment where you got to pick your spots.

David Katz : Understood. So if we can just sort of focus on the potential opportunities that are contractual obligations. Are those factored into your thinking for this year and next? I know Bret talked about getting to a leverage level by the end of next year that I think was sub 4 was suggested, if I heard correctly?

Tom Reeg : Yes, we’re presuming that — we’re presuming that those proceeds would — they add lease adjusted debt, they’d be used to pay off conventional debt so that that would be — that wouldn’t change the net result materially.

Operator: Our next question comes from Stephen Grambling with Morgan Stanley.

Stephen Grambling : As a clarification, I believe I heard Bret mention the $1.2 billion in debt reduction this year could be repeated next year. Is that the rough math to think about free cash flow for 2023? And how should we generally be thinking about ROI investment versus maintenance CapEx in the year ahead?

Bret Yunker : Yes. That’s free cash flow. So no asset sales for ’23. And what was the second question about maintenance CapEx ROI?

Stephen Grambling : Yes. Is there just any maintenance — can you split basically how you’re thinking about maintenance CapEx versus ROI investments in 2023 as well?

Bret Yunker : I said, 300 and 500.

Tom Reeg : Yes. So 500 growth; 300, maintenance.

Stephen Grambling : Got it. And then as a follow-up on Digital, how are you thinking about new states legalizing in capturing the 50% ROI run rate in 2024?

Tom Reeg : We don’t assume anything beyond what’s known to the markets today. So we’re not anticipating there’s a big state shoe that’s going to drop.

Tom Reeg : All right. Thanks, everyone. We’ll talk to you at the end of the quarter.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

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