The Star Entertainment Group’s profit hurt by lower spend from international VIPs as Gold Coast casino props up earnings

International VIP gamblers have kept their money to themselves in the past financial year and casino operator The Star has revealed the impact it’s had on its full-year results.

The Star reported a drop in profit.

CASINO operator Star Entertainment Group has reported an 8.4 per cent profit slump, logging net profit of $224 million, as cautious VIP gamblers spent fewer dollars in the past financial year.

Domestic customers made up 88 per cent of the group’s earnings for the year, climbing to a record number, however normalised earnings, which strip out the casinos’ VIP rebates, were down two per cent to $557 million.

Star revealed it had paid out $18.4 million in redundancy and restructuring costs following its June announcement it would cut up to 20 per cent of its salaried staff.

It revealed the cuts had saved about $40 million on an annualised basis, with a further $5 million in savings expected by the end of the current financial year.

The company, which posted record earnings for the first half of the year, declared a 10c franked dividend, to be paid September 26, for total yearly dividends of 20.5c.

Shares in the group jumped at the result, rising 8.38 per cent to $3.88 by 11.15am.

Staff leaving The Star Gold Coast after the company announced they were cutting 20 per cent of 2000 salaried staff. Photograph: Jason O'Brien

In a statement to the ASX, the company said growing domestic revenue had failed to compensate for the slide in spending by international VIPs.

“The performance of the International VIP Rebate business was impacted by weaker market conditions — increased visitation was more than offset by declines in spend per visit,” the company said.

“Operating costs were flat on (prior corresponding period), reflecting domestic volume growth, higher wages and higher interim service levels for recently commissioned Gold Coast assets and the transition to Sovereign 1.5 in Sydney, offset by lower International VIP Rebate business volumes and continuing cost management.”

The Star chairman John O'Neill.

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For the second year, the group’s Gold Coast operations were the shining light for the group, increasing its domestic and International VIP Rebate business visitation, electronic gaming share gains, reporting solid domestic tables volume growth, and International VIP Rebate business volumes growth of 20.1 per cent on the previous year.

Operating expenses increased 4.9 per cent, reflecting increased domestic and international volumes, higher wages and newly commissioned assets on the Gold Coast.

Across the Brisbane and Gold Coast properties, normalised net revenue, which allows for the International VIP Rebate win rate, increased 5.2 per cent with normalised net earnings up 5.9 per cent.

The company said domestic revenue and earnings growth came from domestic gamers and was driven by private gaming rooms.

The Star Gold Coast, located on the exclusive Broadbeach Island, is expanding with developers fast-tracking the residential sales launch of its second mixed-use tower.

Electronic gaming market share increased at both Gold Coast and Brisbane, with tables revenue growth of 3.9 per cent on the previous year.

Despite a record 10 per cent growth in the number of international VIPs, it was well offset by reduced spending by those customers, with International VIP Rebate business revenue declining 30.7 per cent.

The Star said trading for the current financial year to date reflected “a cautious consumer environment” but had improved since the second half of FY2019.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Matt Bekier said managers remained focused on returns.

“Cost benefits from the organisational restructure are being delivered to plan, with approximately $40m annualised cost benefits achieved to date,” he said in a statement.

Star Casino CEO Matt Bekier. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

“Around 60 per cent of total project costs for Queen’s Wharf Brisbane are now under lump sum contracts, with a further approximately 28 per cent to be contracted on lump sum terms expected by end FY2020.

“The Group remains focused on executing our longstanding strategy of investing to drive visitation and earnings to our network of properties located in sought-after destinations.

“The expansion and upgrades of our properties are being executed to plan, through a partnership approach that enables capital-efficient and de-risked growth.”