{"id":11226,"date":"2020-10-26T22:29:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T22:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=11226"},"modified":"2026-04-24T00:39:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T03:39:06","slug":"fitch-downgrades-crowns-outlook-after-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/fitch-downgrades-crowns-outlook-after-probe","title":{"rendered":"Fitch downgrades Crown\u2019s outlook after probe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The ratings agency does not believe the operator will lose its casino licence but could suffer heavy fines and penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Australia.-\u00a0Fitch Ratings has revised its outlook for Crown Resorts to \u201cnegative\u201d after its executives’ appearances at a hearing conducted by the New South Wales Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitch said Crown Resort’s “BBB” Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) was revised from \u201cstable\u201d to \u201cnegative\u201d due to the possible fallout from the regulatory inquiry plus new inquiries opened by Victoria’s regulator<\/a><\/em><\/strong> and by the financial crimes agency, AUSTRAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitch said that\u00a0the outlook \u201creflects weaknesses in Crown’s governance structure that were revealed during an inquiry in New South Wales, as well as the risks to Crown’s operations and financial profile from potential outcomes of the various inquiries, which could include fines, changes in operating conditions and regulations, or changes to or loss of licences.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NSW inquiry is to determine if the operator is fit to keep its licence for the Sydney casino that it is preparing to inaugurate in December.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitch warned that it did not rule out downgrading Crown\u2019s IDR if the firm fails to correct weaknesses\u00a0or if regulators impose\u00a0“onerous regulatory conditions or fines or penalties that have a significant impact on the company’s business or financial profile.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said the group\u2019s financial position would allow it to absorb around AU$800 million (US$570 million) in fines and penalties, and said: \u201cIt would be among the largest fines imposed on a corporate in Australia.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the possibility of Crown losing its casino licence, it said:\u00a0“We believe there is low probability of this event, and hence have captured the risks under the negative outlook.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitch estimates a revenue decline of\u00a030 per cent for the full year 2021 due to pandemic-related restrictions but predicts revenue will double year-on-year in 2022, with a return to pre-covid\u00a0levels by the following year. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ratings agency does not believe the operator will lose its casino licence but could suffer heavy fines and penalties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Fitch Ratings has revised Crown Resorts' outlook to \"negative\" from \"stable\" due to ongoing regulatory inquiries in New South Wales and Victoria, alongside an AUSTRAC investigation, highlighting significant governance weaknesses. While a license loss is deemed low probability, the operator faces potential heavy fines up to AU$800 million and changes to operating conditions, impacting its financial profile and the upcoming Sydney casino launch.","focusai_entities":"Fitch Ratings, Crown Resorts, New South Wales Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority, AUSTRAC","focusai_location":"Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Sydney","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Governance Framework Impact","query":"What specific enhancements to Crown Resorts' governance framework are anticipated to satisfy regulatory requirements and mitigate future compliance risks?"},{"label":"Financial Penalty Absorption","query":"How would an AU$800 million fine, combined with projected revenue declines, impact Crown Resorts' capital expenditure plans and dividend policy over the next two fiscal years?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,163],"tags":[289,14657,17703],"class_list":["post-11226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-finance-news","tag-australia","tag-crown-resorts","tag-fitch-ratings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11226"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11241,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11226\/revisions\/11241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}