Churchill Downs Incorporated Announces Annual Dividend Increase, 3-for-1 Stock Split, and $300 Million Share Repurchase Program

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (October 31, 2018) – Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI” or “the Company”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) today announced that at its regularly scheduled meeting held on October 30, 2018, the Board of Directors approved a 7 percent increase to the Company’s annual dividend, a 3-for-1 stock split, and a new $300 million share repurchase program.

“Today’s actions reflect our Board of Directors’ confidence in CDI’s long-term performance and ability to deliver growth and returns to our investors,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI. “Our share price has increased considerably as we have expanded our business and we believe a stock split will increase liquidity and make equity ownership in CDI more accessible.”

Annual Dividend Increase

CDI’s Board of Directors approved an annual cash dividend of $1.63 per outstanding share, a 7 percent increase over the prior year, on CDI’s common stock, payable on January 4, 2019 to shareholders of record on December 7, 2018. This marks the eighth consecutive year that the Company has increased the dividend.

3-for-1 Stock Split

CDI’s Board of Directors also approved a 3-for-1 split of the Company’s common stock. The stock split will be effectuated by distributing to each shareholder two additional shares for every outstanding share held as of January 11, 2019. The Company expects the additional shares to be distributed on January 25, 2019, and the stock to begin trading at the split-adjusted price starting on January 28, 2019.

$300 Million Share Repurchase Program

CDI’s Board of Directors approved a new share repurchase program of up to $300 million. The new program replaces the prior $250 million program that was authorized in April 2017 and had an unused amount of $78.3 million. The new authorized amount includes and is not in addition to the unused amount remaining under the prior authorization. Repurchases may be made at management’s discretion from time to time on the open market (either with or without a 10b5-1 plan) or through privately negotiated transactions. The repurchase program has no time limit and may be suspended or discontinued at any time.


About Churchill Downs Incorporated

Churchill Downs Incorporated is an industry-leading racing, online wagering and gaming entertainment company anchored by our iconic flagship event – The Kentucky Derby. We own and operate Derby City Gaming, a historical racing machine facility in Louisville, Kentucky. We also own and operate the largest online horse racing wagering platform in the U.S., TwinSpires.com, and we operate sports betting and iGaming through our BetAmerica platform in multiple states. We are also a leader in brick-and-mortar casino gaming with approximately 11,000 slot machines and video lottery terminals and 200 table games in eight states. Additional information about CDI can be found online at www.churchilldownsincorporated.com.

Information set forth in this news release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”), which provides certain “safe harbor” provisions. All forward-looking statements made in this news release are made pursuant to the Act. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the following: the effect of economic conditions on our consumers’ confidence and discretionary spending or our access to credit; additional or increased taxes and fees; public perceptions or lack of confidence in the integrity of our business or any deterioration in our reputation; loss of key or highly skilled personnel; restrictions in our debt facilities limiting our flexibility to operate our business; general risks related to real estate ownership, including fluctuations in market values and environmental regulations; catastrophic events and system failures disrupting our operations; online security risk, including cyber-security breaches; inability to recover under our insurance policies for damages sustained at our properties in the event of inclement weather and casualty events; increases in insurance costs and inability to obtain similar insurance coverage in the future; inability to identify and complete acquisition, expansion or divestiture projects, on time, on budget or as planned; difficulty in integrating recent or future acquisitions into our operations; costs and uncertainties relating to the development of new venues and expansion of existing facilities; risks associated with equity investments, strategic alliances and other third-party agreements; inability to respond to rapid technological changes in a timely manner; inadvertent infringement of the intellectual property of others; inability to protect our own intellectual property rights; payment-related risks, such as risk associated with fraudulent credit card and debit card use; compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or applicable money-laundering regulations; risks related to pending or future legal proceedings and other actions; inability to negotiate agreements with industry constituents, including horsemen and other racetracks; work stoppages and labor issues; changes in consumer preferences with respect to Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby; personal injury litigation related to injuries occurring at our racetracks; weather and other conditions affecting our ability to conduct live racing; the occurrence of extraordinary events, such as terrorist attacks and public health threats, including the ongoing impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19 virus); changes in the regulatory environment of our racing operations; increased competition in the horseracing business; difficulty in attracting a sufficient number of horses and trainers for full field horseraces; our inability to utilize and provide totalizator services; changes in regulatory environment of our online horseracing business; number of people wagering on live horse races; increase in competition in our online horseracing; uncertainty and changes in the legal landscape relating to our online wagering business; continued legalization of online sports betting and iGaming in the United States and our ability to predict and capitalize on any such legalization; inability to expand our sports betting operations and effectively compete; failure to manage risks associated with sports betting; failure to comply with laws requiring us to block access to certain individuals could result in penalties or impairment with respect to our mobile and online wagering products; increased competition in our casino business; changes in regulatory environment of our casino business; and concentration and evolution of slot machine manufacturing and other technology conditions that could impose additional costs; and inability to collect gaming receivables from the customers to whom we extend credit.