New Zealand casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group reported a 16% drop in first-half profit on a combination of bad luck and a tough comp with the previous year’s Rugby World Cup.
Net income fell to A$66.3 million, or 11.5 cents a share, for the six months ended December 31, on revenue that was down 1.4% to $487.3 million.
SkyCity said the first half was negatively impacted by $4.7 million from the Rugby World Cup and $8.4 million from lower hold on international business, which was 1.06% compared to 1.64% in the first half of 2011. The theoretical win rate is 1.35%.
Adjusted for normal win, and excluding certain one-time costs and gains, net income was down 3.4% to $74.4 million, the company said.
Normalized full-year profit is expected to be about $140 million, and the company raised its interim dividend to 10 cents a share from 9 cents a year earlier. This is in line with new corporate policy promising payments of not less than 20 cents and not less than 80% of normalized profit.
