Crown Advances After Australian Casino Operator Returns to Profitability
Crown Ltd., Australia’s biggest casino owner, rose the most in a month in Sydney trading after it turned to a second-half profit because of the absence of writedowns that caused a loss a year earlier.
Crown rose 3 percent to A$8.49 at the 4:10 p.m. market close, the biggest gain since July 20. The stock earlier rose as much as 4.4 percent.
Higher gambling earnings at Crown’s Melbourne and Perth venues contributed to net income of A$177 million ($157 million) in the six months ended June, compared with a A$788 million loss a year earlier.
Crown is focusing on Perth and Melbourne, both of which are wholly owned, after booking A$1.4 billion of writedowns last year on minority stakes in U.S. operators Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. and Station Casinos Group. Chief Executive Officer Rowen Craigie said today’s result was “reasonable” after both casinos were affected by renovations.
Full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization at Crown Melbourne, Australia’s largest casino, rose 5.5 percent to A$474.9 million. At Burswood in Perth, profit rose 2.4 percent to A$213.6 million.
Second-half figures were calculated by subtracting first- half earnings from the A$292 million full-year profit the Melbourne-based company reported today.
Today’s advance extended Crown’s gain this year to 5.6 percent, compared with an 11 percent drop for the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Fenner in Melbourne rfenner@bloomberg.net
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