Star Entertainment cancels dividend

The company will not pay its usual year-end shareholder dividend due to Coronavirus.

Australia.- Star Entertainment Group has announced that it will not pay a dividend for the year ending 20 June 2020 as it braces itself for the impact the global Coronavirus pandemic is having on the gambling sector.

The news comes after the firm announced that it had stood down around 90% of its workforce due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

According to Inside Asia Gaming, the firm has revoked its usual policy of paying out a minimum of 70% of normalised profits after tax to shareholders for FY20.

The firm was forced by the government to cease gaming, banquet, and F&B operations in Sydney, Gold Coast, and Brisbane, leaving only limited hotel services, among other measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

This forced the company to furlough 90% of its workforce.

“The Star has taken a very difficult, but necessary, decision in relation to its workforce. We are in the process of temporarily standing down over 90% of our approximately 9,000 employees. These stand-downs include senior management. To assist our employees at this time, The Star has provided two weeks of paid pandemic leave. In addition, employees will be able to access any accrued annual and long service leave entitlements”, the company said in a statement.