Connection to China crackdown
Aussie casino operator SkyCity Australia Entertainment posted a 12 percent increase in its Auckland business for the second quarter, enough to offset a decline in its international business, tough trading conditions in Darwin and a weaker Australian dollar, reported Radio New Zealand.
SkyCity’s net profit for the six months that ended in December 2016 was $83.8 million, up 18 percent year-on-year. But turnover in its high-roller business was down 39 percent to $4.4 billion and the normalized underlying earnings, which excludes volatile returns from high rollers, fell 69 percent to $7.1 million.
Its Auckland revenues increased almost 4 percent to $283.9 million, while the underlying profit, which excludes the international business and accounts for about 80 percent of SkyCity’s total, rose 5 percent to $130.6 million.
Analysts have attributed the results to China’s ongoing crackdown on foreign companies marketing to Chinese gamblers. Last October, 18 employees of Crown Resorts were arrested in China for alleged breaches of Chinese gaming law.
The company predicts that Auckland will see modest growth in the second half, while Hamilton is expected to grow with stable results from the Adelaide Casino, now in the midst of a renovation.
