CORRECTED - UPDATE 2-Ameristar 4th-quarter profit rises nearly 25 pct
(fixes percentage in headline and first paragraph, drops reference to revenue in first paragraph and rewrites paragraph 7 to fix revenue figure)
By Deena Beasley
LOS ANGELES, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Ameristar Casinos Inc. (ASCA.O) said on Thursday its fourth-quarter profit rose nearly 25 percent as it spent less money on promotions.
The casino operator reported net income of $17.8 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with $14.3 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier.
The results beat the average analysts' profit estimate of 25 cents a share, as compiled by Reuters Estimates.
Calyon Securities analyst Smedes Rose attributed the upside to better profit margins at Ameristar's Kansas City casino.
"It looks like the trends are little bit better than we expected," he said.
The company's shares, which rose 3.2 percent to close at $31.48 on Nasdaq, edged down to $31.20 in after-hours trading.
Las Vegas-based Ameristar said net revenue rose to $244.1 million from $243.8 million in the year-ago quarter.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 6.4 percent to $66.1 million.
Ameristar estimated first-quarter 2007 operating income of $44 million to $46 million, EBITDA of $68 million to $70 million and earnings of 34 cents to 36 cents a share.
For the full year, the company estimated operating income of $176 million to $184 million, EBITDA of $272 million to $280 million and earnings per share of $1.41 to $1.49.
Analysts had projected a first-quarter net profit of 37 cents a share and full-year income of $1.37 per share.
