Nov. 25–Amid the gloom of Atlantic City casino closings and looming city budget cutbacks, there was relatively good news Monday from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement’s quarterly financial report on casinos.

Four of Atlantic City’s eight casinos still open on Sept. 30, when the third quarter ended, posted higher operating profits than in the same quarter a year ago. They were Borgata, Tropicana Casino & Resort Atlantic City, Resorts, and Golden Nugget.

Those that did not post gains have well-known problems. They were the three remaining Atlantic City casinos owned by the heavily indebted Caesars Entertainment Corp. — Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & Casino, and Bally’s Atlantic City — as well as the bankrupt Trump Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is scheduled to close Dec. 12, its owner says, unless the Unite Here Local 54 union drops its appeal of a U.S. Bankruptcy Court ruling that allowed Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. to end company-sponsored health benefits and stop contributing to a pension plan.

In what it called a “last-ditch effort to keep the Taj Mahal open and save 3,000 jobs,” Trump Entertainment Resorts offered on Friday to restore union health benefits for at least two years and contribute a new pension plan, but only if the union drops its appeal.

Neither the company nor the union would comment Monday on negotiations.

The central figure in the Trump bankruptcy, investor Carl Icahn, owner of about $290 million of Trump secured debt, also owns the Tropicana, which had strong gains in net revenue and operating profits in the third quarter.

Tropicana’s net revenue climbed 33 percent, to $92.7 million, and its operating profits were up 57 percent, to $18.5 million. Tropicana has benefited this year from its purchase of customer lists from the Atlantic Club, which closed in January, analysts have said.

Also showing progress were Golden Nugget and Resorts, the city’s two smallest remaining casinos by revenue.

Golden Nugget, in particular, has been recording strong revenue gains, which only recently have been matched on the profit side. In the third quarter, Golden Nugget’s operating profits shot up to $5.6 million from $2.1 million last year.

Resorts has been slower growing on the revenue side, with a 7 percent gain in the quarter, but its profit soared to $4.9 million from $708,000 a year ago.

Separately, the board of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority said Monday that it had voted to allow Resorts to use certain tax obligations to pay for a $9.4 million project that will create 11 meeting rooms in its buffet space and modernize the rooms in one of the hotel’s towers.

“This project is a good fit as we look to the conventions and meetings business to bring guests to Atlantic City to fill the current void in midweek business,” CRDA board chairman James Kehoe said.

Overall net revenue — including income from hotel rooms, restaurants, entertainment, and Internet gambling, but not promotions — at the city’s remaining casinos was $746 million, up 5.5 percent.

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