SkyCity Entertainment Group, New Zealand's only listed casino company, has posted lower first half profit in line with guidance and says earnings will grow in all its businesses in the second half.
Normalised profit was $NZ66.4 million in the six months ended December 31, in line with the $NZ65 million to $NZ68 million forecast in December and down from $NZ72.1 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said.
The figures exclude earnings from the Christchurch casino sold in December 2012. Normalised revenue fell to $NZ467 million from $NZ493.4 million in the year earlier period.
SkyCity, which has four casinos in New Zealand and two in Australia, said it expects earnings growth in the second half year as positive changes at its Adelaide and Darwin casinos outweigh a challenging macro-economic environment in Australia and as the company benefits from a more buoyant New Zealand economy.
Chief executive Nigel Morrison said the first-half had been challenging due to the high NZ dollar and continued soft consumer spending on both sides of the Tasman but solid progress had been made in establishing the platform for growth and the outlook for the second-half was encouraging.
The New Zealand dollar bought an average 88.20 Australian cents in the first half, compared with 78.36 cents in the year earlier period, crimping returns from the company's Australian units, it said.
Normalised revenue in January, the first month of the second half, rose 11.9 per cent from the same month a year earlier, SkyCity said. Including the impact of a higher New Zealand dollar, revenue for the month increased 5.4 per cent, the company said.
Trading in February has also started well compared to the prior year as the company's casinos benefited from strong Asian visitation over the Chinese New Year period, which started on January 31, SkyCity said.
