Crown Perth gaming revenue down 9% in the last three months

Crown Resorts has shared its financial results for its Perth venue at its annual general meeting.

Australia.- Crown Resorts has revealed that revenues for its Perth casino declined by 9 per cent in the three months to October 17 when compared to the same period last year. Non-gaming revenue was up 34 per cent year-on-year.

However, the figure is still up 6 per cent when compared to pre-pandemic levels. There were no figures for Crown Melbourne or Crown Sydney as both venues were closed for most of the period due to Covid-19 countermeasures.

Steve McCann, Crown Resorts CEO said: “We are continuing to see elevated legal, consulting and other costs associated with the multiple concurrent inquiries and regulatory processes. “We now expect corporate costs for the 2022 financial year to come in higher than last year at around $130m.”

Crown Melbourne has reopened its non-gaming facilities today and hopes to reopen the casino on November 5. Crown Sydney reopened its doors on October 11.

Crown Perth players threatened by loan sharks, inquiry hears

Western Australia’s Royal Commission received submissions from the Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) claiming that several players went to the organisation after being threatened by loan sharks at Crown Perth.

The FCA claimed that unauthorised moneylenders were operating with impunity at the casino. It said that in one cases, a lender approached a losing player on the Crown Perth casino floor and offered him an AU$10,000 loan. The player lost the acquired cash, leading to threats from the predatory lender. 

The FCA, a not-for-profit organisation that helps people in financial difficulty, said the casino operator had never taken action to stop such practice. However, Brian Lee, general security and surveillance manager at Crown’s Perth venue, insisted that the operator had worked to prevent loan sharks from entering the premises.