UPDATE 3-MGM Mirage posts Q3 loss, shares rise

By Deena Beasley LOS ANGELES, Nov 5 (Reuters) - MGM Mirage posted a third-quarter loss on Thursday as consumers spent less at its Las Vegas resorts and it wrote down the value of its latest casino project, but the results were better than expected and shares rose more than 5 percent percent. The No. 2 casino operator, which has come close to defaulting on its debt, also announced an amendment to its credit facility permitting it to raise up to $1 billion of unsecured debt as long as half of the proceeds above $250 million are used to reduce existing senior debt. MGM, whose largest shareholder, Kirk Kerkorian, has said he may cut his stake, reported a net loss of $750.4 million, or $1.70 a share, compared with year-earlier net income of $61.3 million, or 22 cents a share. Charges totaled $1.72 a share, including a write-down of the $8.5 billion CityCenter project, a joint venture with Dubai World which is set to begin opening on the Las Vegas Strip in December. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 1 cent per share, well ahead of the 8-cent-per-share loss forecast by analysts, as compiled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. "They did a little better than people had expected," said KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Dennis Forst. "But the focus is on CityCenter and a turnaround in the economy." He said MGM's gaming results were ahead of expectations, "but everything else still indicates that business is quite difficult." Las Vegas hotel occupancy was flat but rates fell 23 percent. Slot machine volume fell 6 percent, but that was an improvement from the 11 percent year-over-year drop seen in the second quarter. Revenue, adjusted for promotional allowances, fell 14 percent to $1.53 billion but beat the $1.47 billion forecast by analysts. "MGM reported generally solid third quarter results on lowered expectations," Goldman Sachs analyst Steven Kent said in a research note. "We remain cautious on Las Vegas' operating trends heading into a 10 percent supply increase starting next month with CityCenter." The company's credit amendment also allows it to raise equity, provided that half of the proceeds above $500 million are used to reduce senior debt. Shares of MGM, whose holdings include nine Las Vegas Strip casino-hotels, gambling resorts in Mississippi and Michigan, and joint ventures in New Jersey and China's Macau, were up 51 cents at $9.83 early on the New York Stock Exchange. (Additional reporting by Karen Jacobs in Atlanta; editing by Gerald E.

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