The owner of Penn National Race Course in Grantville has pushed back its projected opening of a slot-machine casino

The delay is the result of an ongoing political dispute within the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board over distribution of gaming machines in the state. The dispute centers on whether machine distributorships should be established on a regional or statewide basis. The PGCB has not resolved the issue, failing again last week to reach a consensus.

"We'll just sort of wait it out," Penn National CEO Peter Carlino said Thursday during a conference call to discuss the company's third-quarter financial results. "It will get settled, but in some indeterminate time."

The company had expected to open the casino by the spring of 2007. It once had thought an opening in the second half of 2006 was possible after the gaming legislation was approved last year.

Penn National plans to build a casino with 2,000 slot machines at the Grantville racetrack. It said construction will take 12 to 14 months, so it needs to begin work next spring to reach its projected opening in the third quarter of 2007.

The company has vowed not to start construction until it receives a license. At this point, the PGCB won't be in a position to evaluate and grant licenses until late next April, after it resolves the distributorship issue.

Carlino said a temporary 25,000-square-foot facility should be completed by December at the Grantville track to handle horseracing and simulcasting activities. Penn National can then demolish the existing grandstand to make way for the casino.

Penn National now expects to spend $262 million on the casino, up from an earlier forecast of $240 million. The estimated cost includes the $50 million gambling license.

"We're ready to roll," Carlino said. "We're just going to have to let this unfold."

Penn National reported net income of $55.4 million, or 64 cents a share, for the third quarter. Income included a nearly $38 million gain from the sale of its Shreveport, La., casino.

The quarterly results also include the financial impact from destruction of Penn National's two casinos along the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina. The company posted a pre-tax expense of $19.1 million for deductibles on insurance, as well as $4.1 million to continue providing pay and benefits for nearly 2,000 employees affected by the two closings.

Bill Clifford, chief financial officer, said the company's insurance "will be more than adequate" to pay for reopening the casinos at Biloxi and Bay St. Louis, Miss.

Third-quarter earnings, without the Katrina expense and the Shreveport sale, amounted to 37 cents a share. Penn National stock gained 4.4 percent Thursday to close at $27.45 a share.

In other developments, Carlino said a temporary gaming facility in Bangor, Maine, will open Nov. 4.

The facility will have 475 slot machines.

Carlino said the company hopes to start construction of a permanent facility in the second quarter next year.

Kevin DeSanctis, president and chief operating officer, said Penn National's casino in Baton Rouge, La., has been doing a robust business in the aftermath of Katrina.

"We think things are going very well right now," he said, but he cautioned that "we don't know how long this will last."  슬롯