Australia’s Crown casino group has recorded high full-year profits, up 53 per cent with a revenue increase of 17 per cent. Earnings rose from the company’s Macau casinos too.
Net profit climbed to A$513.3m (US$542.9m) for the year ended June 30, from A$335.9m (US$355.2m) in the previous year. Earnings from Melco Crown Entertainment, in which Crown has a share, in Macau helped to boost profits. High rollers contributed a 19 per cent rise in revenues in Australia.
Crown has been seeking to build on its stake in Echo Entertainment Group, which holds the only Sydney casino licence. Crown is seeking regulatory approval to up its stake in Echo to 25 per cent from 10 per cent. It wants to build a luxury hotel at the Barangaroo development site at the entrance to Sydney’s Darling Harbour.
The Crown plan for the hotel depends upon an ability to operate gaming, said Crown CEO Rowen Craigie. “Without a gaming component that building cannot be commercially justified. The economics of building a luxury hotel in Australia is just not good without cross-subsidisation from gaming.”
Echo owns the Treasury and Jupiters casinos in Queensland.
Crown’s Melco Crown investment totals 34 per cent and profits grew four times to A$136m (US$143.8m). It has one of six licences for casino resorts in Macau. Revenues from Crown’s wholly-owned Melbourne and Perth casinos rose 6.6 per cent.
