Allegiant says $610M Port Charlotte resort's 'financial maturity' will take time

Just a month after opening the Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor, the Allegiant Travel Co. says that although it is encouraged by early bookings, investors will need to have patience.

In its fourth quarter and year-end earnings report released Monday, the Las Vegas-based company called the resort’s Dec. 15 opening “a milestone” and said that its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization are expected to be positive this year.

Still, the company’s chairman and CEO Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. says in the report that “It will take some time for the property to ramp to financial maturity.”

Sunseeker in Port Charlotte opened about three years later than expected and cost $225 million more than originally planned due to delays caused by the pandemic and later due to damage from Hurricane Ian.

According to the Monday’s earnings report, capital expenditures for the resort during the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, were $52.7 million.

The company was able to recover $11 million during the quarter, but, as with all things with this project, the news on that was tempered. The company reported $18.9 million in insurance recoveries but there were an additional $7.9 million losses due to damage from weather events, including Hurricane Idalia.

The company reported the resort’s total assets were $614.9 million.

Despite the setbacks the past several years, Allegiant remains upbeat about its prospects for the Sunseeker and says it intends to integrate it into its credit card and rewards programs. Doing that, Gallagher says, “will provide additional value for our customers, further expanding our brand efforts.”

The 785-room resort has 20 restaurants and bars, two pools, a spa and salon, a 117,000-square-foot “ground-level experience,” an adults-only rooftop retreat, 60,000 square feet of meeting space, a harbor walk, and an 18-hole golf course.

In addition to the update on Sunseeker, Allegiant reported its fourth quarter total operating revenue was down 0.1% from a year ago to $611 million. For the fiscal year, its total operating revenue was up 9% to $2.5 billion.