Red Rock Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:RRR) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Shaun Kelley: Great. Thanks, Stephen. And maybe just one smaller one, but just sort of like a tactical one around the way preopening works here. Can you just give us a sense, was there some loaded costs in terms of when you typically bring employees on the line, but before the actual opening, did you incur some of those expenses, or is the expense base really reflective of really just from December 5 on, or was again, there’s some expenses incurred in the quarter prior to opening that might have just been the way that this happened. I think I’ve seen a little bit of both over the years, I’m just kind of curious on how you did it?

Stephen Cootey: We incurred about $20 million of preopening expenses in Q1, I mean, excuse me, Q4. And again, that was a little bit larger than we anticipated due to the delay. If you recall, we moved the opening from late November to December 5. And so we had to incur additional preopening expenses. But those are below the line and we wouldn’t expect any going forward with regard to Durango.

Shaun Kelley: But just to be clear, were there any staff costs in that kind of period of build up as employees are joining in that period that aren’t in preopening? Is there just that initial few weeks beforehand?

Frank Fertitta: Everything’s captured in preopening.

Stephen Cootey: Everything’s captured in preopening.

Shaun Kelley: Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate that.

Operator: The next question comes from Jordan Bender with Citizens JMP. Please go ahead.

Jordan Bender: Great. Thanks for taking my question. Steve, you kind of alluded to it in some of the prepared remarks, but with free cash flow ramping, you’re turning to the special dividend in the first quarter. But you’ve also talked about debt reduction kind of following the opening of Durango. Assuming that you do turn to debt reduction using that free cash flow, can you maybe give us a perspective of the potential cadence of the reduction until we do hear something further on incremental projects coming from the company? Thank you.

Stephen Cootey: I think the way the Board views this is it’s quarter-by-quarter. Like we’ve always said, we’re going to have a peak leverage when Durango wraps up, which is around this time. And then we’re going to slowly march down toward our long-term target to three times net. That said, we always said we’re going to take a balanced view of returning capital. So we spent the last two years investing in Durango and it’s off to a great start. Given the confidence in the business model and the way Durango is going, we felt now is the time to issue a special dividend and balance that. Yes.

Frank Fertitta: I think maybe your question was more towards new or additional projects coming online. I think our thoughts are to basically take 2024, get Durango fine-tuned, delever the company, and we’re going to be in a position then in 2025 to evaluate which new projects we should be bringing online.

Jordan Bender: Understood. Thanks. And then just on the follow-up, your free cash flow conversion, just about 60% for the year. Is that kind of the right level to think about moving forward?

Stephen Cootey: Yes, it is, because that’s fully loaded. I think 4Q is a little bit skewed to the higher end because it wasn’t any tax payments or estimated tax payments that quarter.

Jordan Bender: Thank you.

Frank Fertitta: We have mandatory debt pay down 100% [ph].

Stephen Cootey: We have mandatory debt pay and maintenance capital.

Operator: The next question comes from Steve Wieczynski with Stifel. Please go ahead.

Steve Wieczynski: Hey, guys. Good afternoon. So, Steve or Scott, if I could maybe ask, I mean, Durango has been kind of beat dead here a little bit. But if I could ask one more on Durango, just wondering maybe what new signups for your loyalty program look like relative to your expectations? And I’m just trying to get an idea of how the property has been helping to bring new customers into your ecosystem, if all that makes sense?

Scott Kreeger: It’s splendid [ph] for the quarter. Our new signups are up high single digits for the quarter. And Durango had, in the limited time it was open for the quarter, did have a definite impact.

Steve Wieczynski: Okay, thanks, Scott. I appreciate that. And then, Steve, look, we fully understand you guys don’t provide formal guidance for the year. But as we think about 2024, is there anything we need to be thinking about whether it’s in terms of headwinds or tailwinds for this year or anything that would disrupt the normal cadence for how the year should normally play out? And then maybe also just wondering what you’re thinking about for corporate expenses this year?

Stephen Cootey: So to kind of address that I mean as Scott kind of walked us through some of the construction disruption, both due to the new amenities at Sunset in Green Valley, as well as [indiscernible], which will affect us during the first half of the year. And then obviously, Durango, we expect to continue to ramp up. As far as corporate, I think roughly around $19 million, where we ended up in Q4 is right where I think we’d be the rest of the year per quarter.

Steve Wieczynski: Okay, perfect. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

Operator: The next question comes from Barry Jonas with Truist Securities. Please go ahead.

Barry Jonas: Hey, guys. The Culinary Union contract renewal saw pretty large increases across the strip. Wondering if that’s having any impact on your revenues and should we expect any indirect pressures on your labor costs? Thanks.