James Packer resigns as Crown Resorts chairman, making way for Robert Rankin
JAMES Packer has stepped down as chairman of Crown Resorts and will be replaced by Robert Rankin.
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JAMES Packer has stepped down as chairman of Crown Resorts and will be replaced by Robert Rankin.
Mr Packer remains a director and it is intended that he will be appointed as a senior executive director on terms being discussed with the board, Crown says.
Crown’s biggest shareholder, he will remain co-chairman of both Melco Crown Entertainment and the Alon Resort project in Las Vegas.
Mr Packer said Crown remained his top business priority and passion.
“Crown has a pipeline of resorts globally and this is where the majority of my time will be spent,” he said.
“Rob Rankin has my complete trust and respect as an executive and he will do an outstanding job as chairman.
“Given our global growth and aspirations, this is the right time for the company to make this change. I look forward to working closely with him.”
Mr Packed added he will also be working to improve Crown’s online strategies, an area where he said he believed the company “could be doing better.”
The announcement came as Crown released its full-year results.
In the year to June, Crown posted a net profit of $385.05 million, down 41.3 per cent on the previous year.
On a normalised basis — which excludes the impact of any variance from theoretical win rate on VIP program play, pre-opening costs from Melco Crown and asset impairments — profit fell 17.9 per cent to $525.48 million.
The full-year results included significant items of $61.3 million, consisting of asset impairments relating primarily to Crown’s investment in Cannery and costs associated with the proposed project in Sri Lanka, which has now been discontinued.
Revenue from operations in the same period came in 12.6 per cent higher at $3.48 billion. On a normalised basis, revenue was 16 per cent higher at $3.423bn.
The gaming group will pay a half-franked final dividend of 19c on October 9 to shareholders on the register at September 25.
Chief executive Rowen Craigie said overall the results for Crown’s portfolio of businesses were mixed.
He said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation at Crown Melbourne rose 17.8 per cent and by 2.6 per cent at Crown Perth.
The performance of Melco Crown weighed though, as weak market conditions in Macau continued to bite.
Last month, the Destination Brisbane Consortium — made up of Echo Entertainment, Far East Consortium and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises — beat out Crown to win the multi-billion dollar tender to redevelop the Queen’s Wharf precinct located in Brisbane’s central business district.
The cost of producing a promotional film associated with Crown’s bid contributed to corporate costs for the year rising to $107.3 million, which was $51.4 million above the previous year.
Originally published as James Packer resigns as Crown Resorts chairman, making way for Robert Rankin
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