Aquis revenues reach pre-pandemic levels

The operator of Casino Canberra is maintaining its mid-term strategy and original budget projections for 2020.  

Australia.- Aquis Entertainment, operator of Casino Canberra, has said its revenues have recovered to pre-pandemic levels.  

Announcing half-year results, the company said that since reopening in August, its casino’s revenues have returned to pre-shutdown levels despite ongoing Covid-19 measures.

It said: “During the shutdown, the company was placed into ‘hibernation’ and operated with minimal expenses. Post shutdown, strict management of expenses and a conservative return to operations has enabled the business to quickly recover and return to pre-shutdown operations.” 

The company says it will maintain its medium-term strategy, outlined in 2016, as well as its original budget forecast with the expectation of positive EBITDA and cash flows for the full financial year.  

Aquis’ projection is that the “strong performance seen pre- and post-shutdown period will allow achievement of these expectations.” 

For the six months ending June 30, the operator reported a loss of AU$2,683,052 (US$1,921,532) as a result of the shutdown. This in spite of the majority of wages being paid through the federal government’s JobKeeper subsides. 

The operator said it received JobKeeper payments totalling AU$1.66m (US$1.19m). 

It added that the operation was able to use the AU$972,196 (US$696,261) destined for the casino licence fee for 2020, which was waived in full as part of the government’s relief measures.

The casino tax for March and the liquor licence fee for the June quarter were also waived and refunded.