Star VIP Biz Down on Crown Crisis

Sun, May 7, 2017

Australian casino operator Star Entertainment Group is blaming a drop on its international VIP business to the detention of employees of Crown Resorts in China last year. The staffers are still in custody.

Non-VIP gross revenues up 4.1 percent

The arrests of 18 Crown Resorts employees in Mainland China last October continues to have a dampening effect on VIP business in Australia, according to Crown rival Star Entertainment Group.

In a presentation to the Macquarie Securities Australia Conference on April 26, the operator said its international VIP business plummeted 27 percent in November and December on a year-on-year basis. By contrast, gross revenue excluding international VIP was up 4.1 percent from January 1 to April 30, according to the Australian.

Of 18 Crown employees originally detained by Chinese law enforcement last October, 15 remain in custody in a Shanghai detention center charged with “gambling-related crimes.” In most cases it is illegal to market to high rollers on the mainland.

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