Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 18

Today's tip "Budget Blueprint" provides helpful guidelines. The free brochure is available from Public Relations, Credit Union National Association, P.O. Box 431, Madison, 53701. tULSffl, 6B Tuesday, November 20, 1990 Reno Gazette-Journal BUSINESS EDITOR: STEVE FALCONE. 788 6322 Shop operators at Bally's support new chairman Moen noted investors believe there haven't been "any positive signs" from the company regarding its finance restructuring efforts.

Bally's Reno is profitable, and "to close it would be among the dumbest things you could contemplate doing," said Hank Ap-plegate, head of Its Truckee Meadows operation. Meanwhile, Jerry Cunningham, a Nevada Gaming Control Board member, predicted Bally's will not close its Silver State operations. And it's extremely unlikely the state would have to appoint officials to help operate those facilities, Cunningham said. No such action is being considered, and "I don't think they're that bad off," Cunningham said. "I don't think Bally's is on the verge of going bankrupt." By Wayne MaltonGazette-joumai Operators of several stores in the downstairs mall at Bally's Reno Hotel-Casino are throwing their support behind the new chairman of its financially strapped parent company.

Jack Snedeker, owner of Personally Yours store inside Bally's Reno, said he is joining several other operators at the complex in writing a letter of encouragement to Bally's new chairman, Arthur Goldberg. "Were going to be stressing our 100-percent support for anything he wants to try," Snedeker said. "We want to ask if there's anything we can do to help." Snedeker said that although he doesn't speak for other store operators in the Bally's mall, his perception is that business activity there was a little soft this summer as it has been in the rest of the economy. "I don't worry about Bally's," said Bob Filippone, manager of Mort Wallin mens' clothing store at the hotel-casino. Most news about Bally's financial condition "has been blown out of proportion by the media." "The media naturally picks on big brother (Bally Manufacturing), and big brother is the one everybody looks at," he said, adding that business is going well at his operation.

Bally's recent management changes have been a frequent topic of conversation among the store operators and "they wonder what's going to happen," said Erica Van Zant, co-owner of American Boot Co. in the hotel. Van Zant said business has been excellent at American's Bally store, although she's talked to some owners who have said business hasn't been strong. Bally Manufacturing Corp. executives had no announcement on the status of negotiations with the holders of bonds on its Nevada gaming operations.

Bally Manufacturing missed an $18.4 million interest payment on the bonds recently. And the firm's official spokeswoman had no comment on whether the parent company will be able to make a $16.8 million payment to holders of bonds on Bally's Grand Hotel-Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., due Dec. 1. Bally shares closed Monday on the New York Stock Exchange at 3 down on volume of 375,400. There were 25 sellers for every 10 buyers.

"The pressure is on the downside," said Phyllis Moen, a vice president of the Bate-man Eichler, Hill Richards stock brokerage firm in Reno. "It's a little too early to tell what the outcome will be." Nowada asoini ii it t.i J. I Li i i iiiii nn i. imniai imii 'W Iraqi troop buildup ponds oil up $1.72 VNEW YORK Oil prices rallied sharply Monday on news that Iraq will send another 250,000 troops into Kuwait. Light sweet crude oil, the benchmark blend, had dropped about II a barrel in early trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as traders focused on prospects of peace In the gulf.

"But prices shot up after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced the military buildup. Crude settled at $31.50 per barrel for December delivery contracts, up $1.72. 3 Analysts said part of the run-up occurred as traders who had sold oil on the speculation prices scrambled to buy it back when prices began strengthening, a phenomenon known as short-covering. But the overall movement of oil prices was based on the Iraqi mobilization of additional troops. I Contracts for delivery in January were up $1.13 at $30.72, and other months were mostly higher.

Market continues climb NEW YORK The stock market gained ground Monday, picking up 'here it left off in last week's dvance, even though oil prices and interest rates turned upward. Advancing issues outnumbered declines by nearly 3 to 2 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks, with 902 up, (J24 down and 475 unchanged. A generally quiet week is expected on Wall Street, given the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and a light schedule of economic news. Trading Will take place on Friday. Ely copper buy planned Magma Copper Co.

and Alta Gold Co. announced Monday that they will Jroceed with the purchase of the Robinson Mining District near Ely from Kennecott Corp. Both companies expect to complete the purchase before the end of the year. Magma Copper, an Arizona-based Company, would own a 51 percent interest in the copper resources of the district, and Alta Gold, headquartered in Salt Lake City, would own a 49 percent interest. Dan S.

Bushnell, Alta Gold chairman and chief executive officer, said preliminary data from an extensive feasibility study indicates a reserve of about 200 million tons of jopper-gold ore. i The companies contemplate building a concentrating plant that will process 30,000 to 35,000 tons of ore per day, and which is expected to produce 2.2 billion pounds of copper and 1.2 million ounces of gold. A plant to process near-surface oxide copper deposits and old mine dumps is also planned. This plant could recover an additional 500 million pounds of copper. Bushnell said total capital investment in the district is expected to exceed $200 million in the next three years, with copper production expected in 1994.

Greyhound Lines files plan DALLAS Greyhound Lines the nation's largest intercity bus line that sought bankruptcy protection after a strike, filed a reorganization plan Monday that transfers most of the company's value to creditors and keeps its routes operating. I The plan, entered in federal bankruptcy court in Corpus Christi, will reduce Greyhound's debt by $171 million and reshape its corporate structure. Greyhound filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code in early June, three months after its 6,000 drivers went on strike over wages and benefits. pBS Inc. expects loss NEW YORK CBS Inc.

said Monday it expects to post a loss in the fourth quarter because of a weak advertising market and unexpectedly large losses on its television broadcasts of major league baseball. The company also said it expects lower earnings from continuing operations for all of 1991 compared with this year. The glum forecast comes as CBS reportedly planned a meeting with its affiliates board to propose a reduction in the estimated $160 million the network pays about 200 affiliated stations for carrying its shows. Wire service reports Associated Press 1-YEAR-OLD: The Mirage celebrates its first birthday Thursday, and executives say it is exceeding all profit expectations. Glitzy Mirage a dramatic financial success in first year irew doesn't bother Wynn.

"You've got a property here that's appraised at somewhere north of a billion, probably $1.2 billion," Wynn said. Wynn estimates 25,000 to 45,000 people visit the Mirage daily, surpassing Hoover Dam as the most popular attraction in Southern Nevada. The estimates mean that 13 million of the 19 million people who visited Las Vegas the past year stopped by. An estimated 750,000 people overwhelmed the resort on opening weekend a year ago. Wynn's Mirage has had a domino effect on this gaming community, which mesmerized him when he visited as a 10-year-old boy 38 years ago.

The Mirage has transformed the Strip and has sparked a multibillion-dollar building boom of new hotels and massive additions to existing properties. The hotel boom has spread to the rest of the city's economy. Wynn hotel-casino was the most expensive in the world until Trump opened his $1.2 billion Taj Mahal earlier this year. The Taj has been unable to meet its debt service and faces financial reorganization. Company officials can't yet say how many employees will be affected, but most will be part-time workers.

Some employees will be given opportunities to work elsewhere in Sears, others will lose their jobs, the company said. Sears' Reno store currently has about 300 employees, said Williams, the local store manager. "It's a store simplification," he said. "It consists of changes being made in the way we do business. We're interested in any free shows, meals and special events.

LYNDA JACKSON has been named director of personnel at Bally's Reno. A native of San Diego, she is a veteran personnel administrator. Jackson worked for several years for Pioneer Citizens Bank of Nevada before joining the MGM Grand's (now Jackson Bally's) personnel department in 1977 to help staff the hotel for its opening. As director of personnel, she is responsible for the administrative oversight of more than 3,000 employees. Pi Washoe winnings up 4.5 for quarter; Clark's climb 18 By Brendan RileyAP CARSON CITY Glitzy new Las Vegas-area resorts helped to draw more gamblers to Nevada and push casino revenues in the July-September quarter to $1.37 billion statewide, the Gaming Control Board said Monday.

"We're going through an extraordinary period of time," said GCB spokesman Harlan Elges as he detailed a quarterly revenue gain of nearly 13 percent statewide over the same quarter a year earlier. The Reno area had only 4.5 percent growth and some other areas showed losses for the quarter. But Elges said all that was offset by an 18.1 percent gain in Las Vegas and elsewhere in Clark County. The big factor was new resort construction. Elges noted several new southern Nevada casinos opened in the past year, including the Mirage, Excalibur and Rio Suites hotel-casinos in Las Vegas.

Also opened in southern Nevada were the big Flamingo Hilton in Laughlin, and the Nevada Landing and Primadonna in Jean. Elges said the new clubs helped to "just bombard the revenues. Eighteen percent is getting up there." But he predicted a leveling off in the coming year. The Clark County clubs accounted for $979.4 million of the total taxable gross revenues won from gamblers in the July- September quarter. Reno-Sparks and north Tahoe resorts accounted for $226.2 million of the total for a gain of 4.5 percent, and Elges said events such as balloon races and a PGA golf tournament helped the area.

Clubs at Stateline, on Lake Tahoe's south shore, and in the Minden-Gardnerville area of Douglas County took in $108 million from gamblers. But that was 3 percent lower than the take in the same quarter a year earlier. Elges said he didn't know what factors accounted for the drop, other than "the volume of people visiting the south shore has not increased in the last year." He also said pending sales of two clubs may have figured in the decline. In Elko County, on the Utah and Idaho borders in eastern Nevada, revenues for the quarter totaled nearly $30 million. That's a drop of 1.7 percent over the same quarter in 1989.

Elges said the area had experienced tremendous growth due to mining activity, "but now there's a leveling-off period, and a tendency for a little catching-up within the industry." In Carson City, clubs took in $11.6 million for a 2.4 percent increase. Elges said the take from gamblers frequenting the Carson casinos has been fairly consistent. The July-September gross revenues generated $82.9 million in percentage fees for government coffers. That's a 12.7 percent gain. changes that result in a higher level of services for customers or reduced costs of taking care of business." Williams said individual stores will not be given a number of employees to pare off the payroll.

Instead, he said, stores will look at each job and determine the actual number of employees needed to do that job cost efficiently while providing the best customer service. See SEARS, page 3B LOVE YOUR JOB The Sierra Nevada Credit Association presents "Falling Back In Love With Your Job" 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Peppermill Hotel Casino. Details and reservations: 323-8083. HEALTH UNDERWRITERS Sierra Nevada Association of Health Underwriters holds a general membership meeting at noon Wednesday at the Peppermill Hotel Casino.

Gerald Ash, executive director, Nevada Hospital Association, will speak on "Why are Average Hospital Charges in Nevada Higher than Charges in other States?" Cost: $12 members, $15 non-members. Seating is limited. Reservations: 826-8450. LAS VEGAS (AP) The Mirage Hotel celebrates its first anniversary as the premier showplace on the glitzy Strip Thursday and chairman Steve Wynn says the resort has exceeded his heady forecast by "miles and miles." At a time when gaming competitors Donald Trump and Bally Corp. are facing mounting financial woes, Wynn's Mirage is the talk of the industry.

"We'll do 40 to 50 percent better than our best expectations," Wynn said in a weekend interview. Even prophets of doom in the financial community are backing off dire predictions made a year ago when Wynn opened the $630 million, resort, which features a flaming volcano, white tigers and bottlenose dolphins. Hotel revenues the first year will run between $600 million and $650 million, Wynn said, his fingers sweeping across the latest monthly balance sheet. Before his resort opened, Wynn was forecasting cash flow of $130 million to $140 million. Gaming analysts projected $110 million to $120 million.

Now, Wynn Sears' cutbacks to impact individual stores differently says, that figure will be closer to $180 million to $200 million. "The amazing thing is that we keep expecting it to slow down and it doesn't" Dan Lee, a gaming analyst with First Boston said Monday. He said the Mirage had exceeded expectations "by a wide mark. I think it's more successful than even Steve Wynn thought it would be." "We've shattered every known record," Wynn said. "It was miles and miles more profitable than anything ever seen." Lee said the $180 million to $200 million cash flow will shatter all gaming records.

"Prior to this year the highest profit ever recorded by a Nevada casino was by Caesars Palace at $110 million," Lee said. "Ordinarily the second year a casino is open is more profitable than the first, but with the year they had, that will be hard to top," Lee said. The success of the resort has prompted Wynn to borrow another $100 million for upgrades at the property such as a $14 million, 1.5-million-gallon habitat for five dolphins. The idea of $500 million-plus in debt have, it's too early to determine." Chicago-based Sears announced Saturday that an undetermined number of workers involved primarily in customer service, accounting and payroll would be fired or transferred sometime after Jan. 1 as a way to improve customer service and cut operating costs.

The affected employees are among the estimated 20,000 people who work in those departments in the 850 Sears stores throughout the nation. CONNIE BREEN has been named slot marketing manager at Bally's Reno. Previously, she worked in slot marketing at Harrah's Reno. Breen will direct the new slot host program. It starts with three hosts FRED JONES, BRENT BRUGMAN Breen and KATHY MEYERS who have the responsibility of making sure slot players enjoy themselves.

They'll make sure guests understand Bally's MVP program for By Susan SkorupaGazette-Journal It's too soon to tell what affect a planned employee cutback at Sears, Roebuck and Co. will have on Sears' operations in Reno, but a local spokesman said the changes won't be a "numbers game." "Each store is individual with unique operating situations," said Larry Williams, manager of Sears at Park Lane Mall. "In Reno, we will be involved in the store simplification, but what impact it will Bally Manufacturing Vk -Ve Caesars World 14 -Ve Circus Circus 441A 1 Golden Nugget 16 1 Hilton Hotels 31 Vs Jackpot Enterprises 7 Vb Promus Companies 12 -Vz Int'l Game Technology 13V4 Sands Regent 11V United Gaming 2ft 14 Stocks NOV. 19, 1990 Dow Jones Ind. Close: 2565.35 Vfrluroa: 1 40.95 mjW 1 SjSwWWWRRV: i.

OCtZZna Complete stocks page 4-5B 0 2550 2500 2450 2400 2350 2300 44-H2250 TWTFM Coeur D'Alene Mines FMC Newmont Mining Echo Bay Mines Alta Gold U.S. Mineral Exploration 15 28 35 -Ve 10 2.063 1 -116.