LAS VEGAS | Horseshoe Casino owner Harrah's Entertainment Inc. reported Friday it swung to a first-quarter loss, citing costs associated with a deal to take it private and "challenging economic conditions."

The world's largest gambling company by revenue said it had a net loss of $187.8 million, compared with profit of $185.3 million in the same quarter a year earlier. It did not report shareholder earnings, after its sale in January to affiliates of Apollo Global Management LLC and TPG Capital LP.

The 2008 figures included $211.3 million in pretax charges for retiring debt and $142.6 million in nonrecurring costs related to its acquisition.

The acquisition deal, valued at $30.7 billion, included the assumption of $12.4 billion of debt and about $1 billion of costs. Harrah's stockholders received $90 for each share of common stock, or a total of $17.3 billion.

Excluding items, Harrah's said first-quarter income fell to $401 million from $451.2 million in the first quarter of 2007.

The casino company reported a 2.1 percent decline in sales to $2.6 billion from $2.65 billion a year earlier.

"Our first quarter results reflect the consequences of challenging economic conditions," Harrah's President and Chief Executive Gary Loveman said in a statement.

The Las Vegas-based company had "ample" cash on hand as of March 31, and planned to continue to reduce expenses to meet what he called a "softness" in the gambling market, Loveman said.

Harrah's laid off about 100 employees in recent months when it closed the buffet at its Bally's hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip. A spokesman said another 1,000 jobs remain unfilled as a cost-saving measure after employees voluntarily left the company's Las Vegas work force of about 25,000.

Other Las Vegas-based casino companies are experiencing similar economic pressures. MGM Mirage, which reported letting 400 midlevel employees go last month, also said first-quarter profit tumbled 30 percent. Las Vegas Sands Corp. posted a first-quarter loss and Wynn Resorts Ltd. said its profits dropped 20 percent.

"We're seeing softness across the board," Loveman said in a conference call, "but much less so at the upper end. It is in many instances folks coming and playing at lower levels."

He said the company got a boost from the first-quarter debut of a new tower at Harrah's Atlantic City, which will continue to open in phases through the summer. He said he looked forward to the scheduled opening of a $485 million expansion at the Horseshoe Hammond in Indiana later this year, and an expansion due to be completed next year at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Harrah's announced in April it intends to change its name to Caesars Entertainment Corp. once it gets approval from regulatory agencies.

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Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: http://www.harrahs.com