The hits keep on coming for Australia’s Star Entertainment Group with the company reporting a net loss of AU$6.8 million (US$4.4 million) in the March 2024 quarter as premium players continue to steer clear.
In a quarterly trading update filed Friday, the company revealed a 19.3% year-on-year decline in revenue from premium gaming rooms at The Star Sydney, while premium gaming revenue was also down 20% at The Star Gold Coast and 28% at Treasury Brisbane.
The decline was somewhat tempered by a slight improvement across its main gaming floors – The Star Sydney booked a 5.4% year-on-year increase, The Star Gold Coast 4.6% and Treasury Brisbane 6.4% – however net revenue was still down 4.6% versus the March 2023 quarter at AU$419.2 million (US$274 million).
Notably, the trend has not been a good one: while Star booked normalized EBITDA of AU$37.9 million (US$24.7 million) for the quarter, AU$20.2 million (US$13.2 million) of this was recorded in January, dropping to AU$10.3 million (US$6.7 million) in February and AU$7.4 million (US$4.8 million) in March.
Star noted that costs related to boosting its resources in the risk, controls and transformation teams continue to rise, up from AU$90.3 million (US$58.9 million) per month during the first half of the financial year to AU$92.1 million (US$60.1 million) per month to start 2024.
The Trading Update comes with a second inquiry into The Star Sydney’s suitability set to get underway on Monday.
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