Star Entertainment boss Steve McCann in eye of storm

The arrival of Cyclone Alfred could be another nail in the coffin for Star with the temporary closure of its Brisbane and Gold Coast casinos this week.

Star Entertainment chief executive Steve McCann has been locked in talks all week with banks and government.

Even the weather it seems is plotting against Star Entertainment boss Steve McCann.

The arrival of Cyclone Alfred across the Queensland coast as soon as Thursday could be another nail in the coffin for Star with the closure of its Brisbane and Gold Coast casinos set to stretch at least into the weekend.

The Star announced it was temporarily closing most of its public venues

and facilities at its Gold Coast and Brisbane properties from midnight Wednesday.

The Star’s gaming floors will also close from midnight on Wednesday with all regulatory authorities advised.

City Beat spies tell us that it is likely to cost the company millions as a time it can least afford it. “They will lose a week in revenue at least in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast,” says our spy. “There may be some costs saved with casual wages but it’s still not great.”

The impending natural disaster could not have come at a worse time for the company which has seen its share suspended until it nails down a financial rescue plan. Morningstar analyst Angus Hewitt warns that without a financial lifeline its suspended shares were unlikely to trade again. “This time it’s dire,” Hewitt says.

“We previously noted Star would be lucky to make it to its interim results release without a lifeline. Without a lifeline, it may never trade again.” He says recent asset sales, including a $60m deal to offload its event centre at Star Sydney, would buy time. But Star “needed to both refinance its corporate debt and raise additional liquidity to trade through current operational weakness and meet looming commitments.”

Lismore residents bagging sand as they prepare for tropical cyclone Alfred.

Bunkering down

Another corporate leader nervously watching the weather is Suncorp boss Steve Johnston. Johnston and his team are running the ruler over worst case-scenarios as he prepares for a surge in customer claims from when the storm peaks late Thursday.

Johnston tells my colleague Eric Johnston from The Australian that customers are particularly vulnerable the deeper south along the coast Alfred starts to track, with the prospect of storm surges hitting the Gold Coast. The Suncorp boss notes there had not been a cyclone in southeast Queensland of any significance for 40 or 50 years.

Many houses in the south-east are not built to the same cyclone standards in areas north where there are regular cyclones.

RACQ chief executive insurance Trent Sayers meanwhile tells us they have scaled up its teams on the phone and online to help members lodge their claims.

RACQ also will deploy additional resources such as assessors and builders to be on the ground to support the recovery as soon as it is safe.

Supermarket shelves have been stripped.

Good egg

Not sure the people who have been stripping the shelves of Brisbane supermarkets will need all that bread and water and it all seems a bit selfish given many other missed out.

Our faith in human nature was restored this week when an elderly lady grabbed a couple of cartons of eggs at Woolworths Lutwyche before noting your diarist was empty handed. She then kindly offered to give him one of her cartons.

Kudos also to Grandad Jack’s Craft Distillery on the Gold Coast which is offering free filtered water to people who may have missed out the supermarkets.

Originally published as Star Entertainment boss Steve McCann in eye of storm