Crown Resorts has warned of the coronavirus’s impact on its business after the casinos operator reported a lower first-half profit result.
The company’s normalised net profit, which adjusts for significant items and variances in win rates, fell 11 per cent to $172.7 million compared with the first half last financial year.
Crown chief executive Ken Barton said the 2020 first-half result reflected mixed trading conditions across their various businesses and he flagged concerns over the impact of coronavirus outbreak on trading.
“Crown has recently experienced softer trading conditions as a result of travel restrictions and general community uncertainty in response to Covid-19, particularly over the Lunar New Year period,” he said.
Crown Resorts had a difficult end to 2019 after media allegations of impropriety, which it denies, and union disputes over pay increases.
Mr Barton said VIP program play turnover at the Australian resorts was affected in the first half by softer market conditions, which was exacerbated by negative publicity.
However, the program benefited from an above theoretical win rate on VIP program play turnover so revenue there was up more than 9.0 per cent in the half.
He said Crown continued to review and improve its governance structures and was co-operating fully with the regulatory inquiries underway.
The company declared an interim dividend of 30 cents per share.
AAP
Be the first to comment