Australia’s Crown Resorts reported a 35.2% increase in adjusted net profit for the year ended 30th June with help from a hefty contribution from Macau.
The company led by billionaire James Packer recorded a profit of A$640 million normalized for fluctuations in hold, and Melco Crown Entertainment “was a major contributor,” the company said.
Crown’s 33% stake in MCE, which operates the City of Dreams and Altira Macau casinos in Macau, plus a chain of slot parlors, and is opening a third resort casino in the Chinese gambling enclave next year, was good for $287.6 million in profit, which was up 64% year on year and amounted to nearly 45% of Crown’s bottom line. Normalized for hold it was up 91% to $291.2 million.
“MCE’s result was attributable to solid underlying financial performance, driven primarily by its mass market table games business at City of Dreams,” Crown said.
Crown pocketed two dividend checks from MCE totaling US$94.4 million for the year. The company is due another US$14.5 million from MCE’s second-quarter dividend.
At home, the year proved more challenging. Normalized EBITDA was up 2.8% at the company’s flagship Crown Melbourne and was essentially flat at Crown Perth in Western Australia on hold-adjusted revenue that was up a combined 1.4% to $2.93 billion despite a 1.5% dip in VIP volume.
“We continue to see the weak consumer sentiment that has dampened trading … and which reflects the structural and cyclical challenges local economies are experiencing,” Crown said.
