Australian casino operator The Star Entertainment Group appears to be benefiting from Macau’s downturn, with profit for the 2016 financial year up 15 percent and VIP revenue at Sydney flagship The Star out-performing Melbourne rival Crown for the very fist time.
Results released late last week show that the Group’s net profit rose to AU$194.4 million, with a 13 percent rise at The Star offsetting a slight fall in Queensland where it owns Brisbane’s Treasury Casino and Jupiter’s on the Gold Coast.
More significantly, VIP revenue in Sydney during the second half of the financial year reached AU$320.5 million compared to Crown’s AU$312.8 million. It comes on the back of significant investment by The Star Entertainment Group in upgrading its facilities in Sydney and the Gold Coast in recent years, with around AU$1 billion being spent at The Star alone on new hotel rooms, VIP gaming facilities and various non-gaming attractions.
The company said it could spend another AU$425 million through June 2017 at its Sydney and Gold Coast properties as it looks to lure the lucrative Asian market down under.
