MGM Mirage Loses $750M As CityCenter's Value Drops

OSKAR GARCIA

LAS VEGAS (AP) — MGM Mirage's latest casino project isn't open yet, but a drop in the $8.5 billion complex's value combined with falling revenue companywide to push the casino operator into the red in its third quarter, the company said Thursday.

The company, in which billionaire Kirk Kerkorian has said he may cut his 37 percent stake, lost $750.4 million for the three months that ended Sept. 30 largely because it wrote down the value of the 67-acre CityCenter project it is building with Dubai World on the Las Vegas Strip.

But Jim Murren, MGM Mirage's chairman and chief executive, said CityCenter starting to open in December makes him optimistic for the company. It is prepared to battle for more tourists and convention customers, especially in its home market of Las Vegas, he said.

"In a market that's large, building market share, establishing new relationships, finding new friends (and) reattaching ourselves with our old customers is a way to succeed coming out of a recession," Murren told The Associated Press Thursday. "We are accomplishing that right now."

Murren said its new marketing includes having 50 salespeople in recent week talk with planners who book big conferences and conventions. The company hopes to convince companies to plan meetings again after a year of cancellations.