Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Loses $139.5 Million in 2010

The newest resort casino on the Vegas Strip has a long way to go to be profitable. The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas’ latest destination resort, reported a $139.5 million loss last year, a number that dwarfed the amount of revenue the casino and hotel took in.

However, there is one major mitigating factor in this figure: the Cosmopolitan only opened on December 15, meaning it only had a little over two weeks of operation in which to bring in money for the owners. On the other hand, expenses built up during the year counted against the total, including a massive $42 million marketing campaign that included national television spots.

In the short amount of time that the Cosmopolitan was open, it did take in some very respectable revenues. The casino made $4.3 million, while the hotel took in $4.2 million in room rates from its 2,995 rooms (though only 1,998 rooms were open when the resort first opened).

Overall, the Cosmopolitan was said to have spent $116.5 million on “preopening expenses,” which includes the above-mentioned marketing efforts. With those costs off the books for 2011, the overall profitability of the casino doesn’t seem to be in doubt.

The Cosmopolitan opened in style in December, marketing itself as an upscale, luxury resort that could also appeal to a hip younger crowd. The resort also features a large spa, 150,000 square feet of convention space, three pools and a 1,800 seat theater.

The Cosmopolitan is opened by Deutsche Bank. The group had written down the value of the resort to $3.3 billion, from an original estimate of $3.9 billion. However, Deutsche Bank has reported that they do not expect the value of the Cosmopolitan to fall further, based on the business it has done so far.