Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- MGM Mirage, the casino company majority-owned by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, said third-quarter profit tumbled 67 percent as cash-strapped U.S. gamblers stayed away from Las Vegas.

Net income dropped to $61.3 million, or 22 cents a share, from $183.9 million, or 62 cents, a year earlier, the owner of 10 Las Vegas casinos said today in a statement. Net revenue slid 5.9 percent to $1.79 billion.

Investors are scrutinizing earnings to judge whether MGM Mirage can generate enough cash to cover loans and finish its $11.2 billion CityCenter project on the Las Vegas Strip. The Strip, where the company is the largest operator, may post its biggest annual gambling decline on record this year.

The company also said it's indefinitely postponing a planned Atlantic City development, as well as a joint venture on the Strip with Kerzner International Ltd., the owner of the Atlantis casino in the Bahamas.

MGM Mirage jumped 79 cents, or 7.7 percent, to $11.12 at 9:35 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares tumbled 88 percent this year through yesterday.

The casino company said property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, an indicator of cash flow, fell 29 percent to $502 million in the quarter.

Las Vegas' McCarran airport passenger traffic slid 13 percent in September, and has dropped 5.7 percent this year, the Clark Country Department of Aviation said Oct 27.

Cheaper Rooms

The owner of the Strip's Bellagio, Luxor and Circus Circus casino resorts said revenue per available room, a measure of rates and occupancy known as Revpar, slipped 10 percent on the Strip as occupancy dropped to 95 percent from 97 percent a year ago, and the company charged on average $12 a night less for rooms.

Gambling revenue fell 8 percent across all of MGM's properties because of a 13 percent slump in Las Vegas table game betting and a 13 percent slide in slot-machine takings at its Strip casinos. Increased slot takings at MGM Grand Detroit and Gold Strike Tunica left the overall company gaming machine takings down 6 percent.

Food and beverage sales dropped 3 percent, and entertainment revenue decreased 4 percent.

Las Vegas Strip gambling revenue has fallen 6.7 percent this year through August and is ``on track'' for its biggest annual decline since data started being compiled in the mid- 1980s, Frank Streshley, a senior analyst at Nevada's Gaming Control Board, said in an interview last week.

Bellagio's Gains

Against the trend, Bellagio reported Ebitda rose 8 percent to $90 million in the quarter, with a 1 percent increase in average daily room rates, as higher-end properties felt less of the Strip's declines.

In Macau, the only region of China where casinos are legal, the company opened its MGM Grand Macau in December 2007 in a joint venture with Pansy Ho, daughter of gambling magnate Stanley Ho. In the third quarter the Macau property's Ebitda was $35 million, from $23 million in the second quarter.

Chinese authorities have tightened Macau visa limits to stem visitor growth from the mainland, causing casino revenue to fall for a second straight quarter in the three months that ended Sept. 30.

The 91-year-old Kerkorian and Dubai World, the government- owned investment group, are the largest shareholders in MGM Mirage. The two are developing the CityCenter complex of hotels, casinos and condominiums on the Las Vegas Strip, scheduled to open before the end of next year.

Seeking Funds

The financial crisis and Las Vegas' decline has made it harder for the partners to get loans to finish the project. They have raised $1.8 billion of the $3 billion they need, according to Oct. 6 filings.

Banks have committed another $500 million to CityCenter financing, MGM Mirage said today. MGM and Dubai World each spent $300 million in the third quarter to finance construction.

The company plans to sell five-year notes secured by its New York-New York Hotel & Casino in a so-called benchmark offering, which is typically at least $500 million, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

MGM Mirage may write down the value of goodwill and assets related to the 2005 purchase of Mandalay Resort Group in the fourth quarter because of the decline in its stock price. The company said it can't estimate the size of the impairment.

Kerkorian is selling his stake in Ford Motor Co. to focus on the gambling, hotel and oil and gas industries ``in light of current economic and market conditions,'' his investment company Tracinda Corp. said in an Oct. 21 filing.

Ford shares have plunged 68 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Beth Jinks in New York at bjinks1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 29, 2008 09:37 EDT