Auckland and Australia helped SKYCITY Entertainment overcome softness elsewhere in its home market of New Zealand and drove revenue growth of 6% for the first three months of the 2015 financial year.
Revenue hit NZ$250.3 million for the quarter ended 30th September, mainly on the strength of the company’s SKYCITY Auckland flagship, where revenues increased 12% year on year to $143.1 million on robust performance from the international (+41%) and non-gaming segments (+17.6%) of the business. The take from the resort’s 1,600 machine games and 100 live tables was up 5.4%.
In all, international business for the five-casino group was up 55% year on year.
Chief Executive Nigel Morrison said, “We continue to see strong growth from Chinese players, our core target market for the VIP side of our business, which is not only great news for SkyCity, but also for local businesses and tourism operators, contributing to local economic growth.”
Casinos in Hamilton and Queenstown didn’t fare so well, down a combined 7.3% to $15.7 million, but the Australian casinos in Adelaide and Darwin were up a combined 3.5% to A$83 million.
Adelaide is in the midst of a A$300 million expansion and more than NZ$500 million is being reinvested in the complex in Auckland to add more gaming and a third hotel with 300 five-star rooms as part of an agreement with New Zealand’s largest city to fund construction of a new convention center.
SkyCity is traded on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges under the ticker SKC.
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