The big reason for the loss was the previously announced charge against earnings to account for the drop in value of the assets in the CityCenter development due to the recession. CityCenter is a 50-50 joint venture of MGM Mirage and Dubai World.

Last month, the company said it would be taking a $1.15-billion non-cash impairment charge in the third quarter related to its 50% portion of the lost value--$955 million related to its investment in CityCenter and $174 million related to the sales value of the condominiums. On Thursday, it reported a slightly higher a charge of $1.17 million--$956 million on the overall investment and $203 million for lost condominium value.

On the Las Vegas Strip, where it owns nine casino resorts not including CityCenter's Aria, MGM Mirage posted an overall average occupancy of 95%, which is equal to last year, however; it accomplished the feat with steeply discounted room rates relative to the year-earlier period--despite the increasing rates throughout 2009--and a breakdown by resort shows most of them losing occupancy compared to the same year-earlier period.