Golden Entertainment reported lower revenue and adjusted earnings during the third quarter for all of its Nevada casino operations. But the company expects improved conditions in the current quarter.

On Thursday, Golden reported third-quarter revenue of $161.2 million, net income of $5.2 million, and adjusted earnings of $34 million. Those compare to revenue of $257.7 million and adjusted earnings of $53.2 million during the third quarter of 2023.

The decline in revenue and adjusted EBITDA over the prior year, however, were primarily related to the exclusion of the results for the company’s Rocky Gap Casino Resort and distributed gaming operations in Montana and Nevada, sold in July 2023, September 2023, and January 2024, respectively.

The company reported net income of $5.2 million, or $0.18 per fully diluted share, for the third quarter compared to net income of $241.2 million, or $7.83 per fully diluted share, for the third quarter of 2023. The third quarter of 2023 included the impact of the $305.8 million gain on the sales of the Rocky Gap Casino Resort and the Montana distributed gaming business during the quarter.

On the casino side, Golden reported its Nevada casino-resorts had $99.5 million in revenue, down from $105.5 million a year ago. Adjusted earnings went from $30.8 million to $24.6 million. Its locals casinos had $35.4 million in revenue, down from $37.9 million. Adjusted earnings went from $16.8 million to $14.2 million. Tavern operations reported $26 million in revenue, down from $26.5 million. Adjusted earnings went from $7.5 million to $5.3 million.\

In addition, on Nov. 5, the board of directors authorized the recurring quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share of the company’s outstanding common stock payable on Jan. 7 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 20. The also increased the company’s share-repurchase authorization by $100 million, creating $131.4 million of current availability under the share-repurchase program.

“In the third quarter, we maintained our commitment to returning capital to shareholders through our regular dividend and share-buyback program, despite a challenging operating environment,” said Blake Sartini, Golden’s chairman and CEO. “We anticipate that business conditions will improve in the fourth quarter and, with our increased share-buyback authorization currently at over $130 million, we expect to continue to use our liquidity to acquire our own shares throughout the year.”

The company repurchased 815,116 shares of common stock in the third quarter at an average price of $31.65 per share for a total of $25.8 million. In October after the end of the quarter, an additional 134,613 shares were repurchased for a total of $4.2 million. Year to date, the company has repurchased 1.94 million shares of the company’s common stock at an average price of $30.70 per share for a total of $59.5 million.

As of Sept. 30, the company’s total principal amount of debt outstanding was $399 million, consisting primarily of $395 million in outstanding term-loan borrowings.