Gaming and Leisure Properties digs in during coronavirus

Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. closed its casinos in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic and the Wyomissing-based real estate investment trust isn’t sure when they will open again.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Gaming and Leisure spent the latter part of the first quarter fortifying its bottom line.

The company said Friday that it has collected just about all of its rent in full for April.

A deal with Wyomissingbased Penn National Gaming Inc. has also helped. That transaction with its Wyomissing-based parent includes the land that will eventually house the Hollywood Casino Morgantown in Caernarvon Township.

“In the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, GLPI management quickly took several prudent measures to bolster our already strong balance sheet, enhance liquidity, and provide incremental financial flexibility,” said Peter Carlino, Chairman and CEO, in a statement. “Although COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on our tenants’ operations and the national economy at large, the future performance of our national platform of regional gaming real estate remains a critical component of state budgets across the country given their significant generation of gaming and other tax revenues and source of employment.

“We are well prepared for when the properties in our portfolio re-open and start the process of returning to normalized operations and believe our geographically diversified regional portfolio will play an important role in the recovery process.”

First-quarter numbers released after the close of markets Thursday showed that Gaming and Leisure had a strong start to the year.

Funds from operations, a closely watched measure in the REIT industry that takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization, was $188.8 million, or 88 cents per diluted share, for the period that ended March 31.

The company said it had net income of $96.9 million, or 45 cents per share. Revenue of $283.5 million in the period.

The company’s shares have fallen 34% since the beginning of the year. In trading Friday, shares were down 6.6% to $26.35.