Nevada casinos posted profits in fiscal 2016, the first time the industry has been in positive territory since before the Great Recession.

This week, the Nevada Gaming Control Board released their annual Nevada Gaming Abstract, which showed the 273 gaming venues that earned more than $1m in revenue in the 12 months ending June 30, 2016 generated a combined income of $979m versus a net loss of $662m in fiscal 2015.

Overall revenue at state-licensed gaming venues reached $25.2b, up from $24.6b in fiscal 2015, and only around $100m off the all-time peak of $25.3b in fiscal 2007. Casinos also trimmed their overall costs by 7.7%, with significant cuts in payroll (-21.9%) interest payments (-20%) and general and administrative expenses (-17.2%).

Gambling’s share of overall revenue continued to decrease, falling from 43.2% in 2015 to 42.6% in 2016. This waning influence was even more pronounced on the Las Vegas Strip, where gaming’s share of the overall pie fell to 34.2%, down 0.7 points from 2015.

More about Nevada casinos at Calvin Ayre