The losses are piling up for Don Barden's casinos in Indiana, Mississippi and Colorado, but one top company official insisted yesterday the financial woes won't have any impact on Mr. Barden's $450 million slots parlor scheduled to open next year on Pittsburgh's North Shore.

In an annual report filed Friday, Majestic Star Casino LLC reported $26.1 million in losses last year and claimed $556.7 million in debt, leaving it with very little cash to upgrade its properties to better compete, particularly in Indiana.

As part of its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company also disclosed that Mr. Barden's Pittsburgh entity, PITG Gaming LLC, had secured a $200 million "bridge" loan to start construction of the North Shore casino.

Kirk Saylor, Majestic Star executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the loan was needed because PITG Gaming had yet to obtain the $450 million in permanent financing required to build the casino more than a year after winning the state license to operate it.

But he insisted PITG Gaming's lack of financing is unrelated to Majestic Star's fiscal woes and debt and is more "by design."

"It's really achieving the right capital structure for us. Could we have had it in place sooner? Most likely. However, that would have involved too big of a haircut from a return perspective. It would have been too expensive," he said.

PITG Gaming originally had a commitment from Jefferies & Co., a Wall Street investment firm, for the $450 million in credit. Mr. Barden later switched to Credit Suisse and is still working with the firm, Mr. Saylor said.

He doesn't believe Mr. Barden will have any trouble securing the financing, despite the Majestic Star troubles. He said he expects it to be in place sometime next month.

"This project's been a very supportable project in the eyes of the investment community. It's a project everybody likes," he said.

The state Gaming Control Board, which awarded Mr. Barden the Pittsburgh license, has "no concerns" that financing isn't in place, spokesman Richard McGarvey said. "The project is moving forward," he said.

Ms. Saylor tied Majestic Star's $26.1 million loss last year to increased competition, particularly in Indiana, where Mr. Barden operates two casinos. He said Pokagon Indians have opened a new casino near the Indiana and Michigan borders. Ameristar also is upgrading an Indiana casino it acquired last September. Harrah's Entertainment also expects to complete a $500 million renovation and expansion of its Horseshoe casino this summer.

The $26.1 million loss comes on the heels of losses in the two previous years. Majestic Star posted a losses of $14.3 million in 2006 and $5.3 million in 2005.

Adding to the financial misery is Majestic Star's massive debt generated in part by Mr. Barden's purchase of the Trump casino in Gary, Indiana, in late 2005. That casino sits right next to Mr. Barden's, giving him less-than-desirable side-by-side operations.

In its filing, Majestic Star said the high debt and the need to conserve cash to meet payment obligations inhibit its ability to make capital improvements, the very thing needed to better compete.

It said it had "put on hold" plans for the development of new and improved dockside gambling and land-based facilities in Gary, in part because of the "lack of financial flexibility."

"As the competitive environment continues to grow [in Indiana], it becomes more and more difficult for us to compete because of the lack of liquidity and lack of ability to significantly improve the properties," Mr. Saylor said.

He said Majestic Star was not in danger of defaulting on its obligations and is confident it will be able to meet the payments required on the debt.

"That does not appear to be a problem for us. The problem, at the end of the day, boils down to a lack of ability to borrow more money to get more financial resources to improve the property to effectively compete," he said.

Mr. Saylor insisted the financial woes will have no impact on the Pittsburgh casino, which he said is entirely separate.

PITG Gaming is set up as a separate subsidiary from Majestic Star under parent Barden Development Inc. A Las Vegas casino owned by Mr. Barden also is separate.

Majestic Star does have an expense sharing agreement with PITG Gaming. It reimburses Majestic Star for expenses it paid related to the Pittsburgh casino, mainly in payroll and travel. It charged $1.3 million in expenses to PITG Gaming last year and expects to do the same in 2008.

Frank Fantini, publisher of Fantini's Gaming Report, a daily investor-oriented publication on the gambling industry, said he expects Majestic Star to ride out the financial storm, if only because of its owner.

"They're going through a rough patch. I expect they'll still be here in six months to a year from now. I expect that they'll be here as long as Don Barden wants to do it," he said. "Don Barden has deep pockets. He can put more equity in if he wants to shore it up. That's not the case with a lot of companies."

Mr. Fantini said others in the industry are having trouble as well because of competitive pressures and the economy. He said, for example, Boyd Gaming stock had dropped from $50 a share to $18 and Pinnacle had plummeted from the upper 30s to $13 a share.

Asked whether those in Pittsburgh should be concerned about the Majestic Star troubles, he replied, "I don't think so. I think they're going to be OK."