LADY LUCK REVISES CASINO STRATEGY

Lady Luck Gaming Corporation reported net revenue of $34.8 million during the first quarter of 1995.

That's the good news for the company, which owns and operates casinos in Iowa, Mississippi and Colorado and recently filed a request for a gambling license at Scott City.

"We wanted people in that area to know we're still very much interested in that location," said Robert Stillwell, the company's public relations director.

The bad news was in 1994, before the company adopted a revised business strategy that has improved its financial standing for 1995. The bad publicity came when the company's stock price dropped from 7 3/4 to 1 1/2.

"People are still concentrating on problems that stem from 1994," said Stillwell. "We're dealing with those problems."

He prefers to look at the company's current performance.

"The second-quarter report should be as good as the first quarter, which is up 19 percent over totals of the same period last year," Stillwell said. "We're looking to the future."

The company now has two license applications filed with the Missouri Gaming Commission. "The Kimmswick area application has been on file for more than a year," said Stillwell.

Meanwhile, the company opened its fourth gambling operation recently at Bettendorf, Iowa.

Lady Luck owns and operates three dockside casinos in Mississippi: at Natchez (Lady Luck Natchez), Biloxi (Lady Luck Biloxi) and Coahoma County (Lady Luck Rhythm & Blues).

The company also operates a land-based casino in Central City, Colo. (Lady Luck Central City), and has a 35 percent interest in the Bally Entertainment Corp. casino complex in northern Tunica County, Miss.

Lady Luck's stock on NASDAQ's National Market System is currently over 2. The company has until November 14 to meet net tangible assets requirements of $1 million or be deleted from the NASDAQ system.

"We took on too many projects, and we learned some valuable lessons," Stillwell said. "Gaming hasn't grown at the pace we expected. Now we're looking at projects one at a time."

Last August, the company announced its revised plan to reduce the level of new development and to concentrate on those ventures with the most potential benefit to the company and its shareholders.

Stillwell said the company is focusing now on the Kimmswick project. Then it will concentrate on the Scott City project. Lady Luck will take them one project at a time, he said.