Analysts have maintained a stable outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
New Zealand.- S&P Global Ratings\u00a0has maintained SkyCity Entertainment Group’s BBB- long-term issuer credit rating and BBB- long-term issue ratings on the company’s debt. It forecasts that credit metrics will weaken in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 but will stay within the tolerances of the current ratings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It said: “The stable outlook reflects our view that SkyCity is taking creditor-friendly actions to avoid downward pressure on the rating by prioritizing debt reduction over the next two fiscal years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
S&P adjusted its earnings forecast for SkyCity downwards, noting subdued economic conditions in New Zealand leading to decreased revenues in both gaming and non-gaming sectors. The debt-to-EBITDA ratio is expected to peak at 2.9x in fiscal 2024s, with proactive debt reduction measures anticipated to improve the ratio to 2.0x by fiscal 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
S&P noted measures including holding off on paying dividends until 2025 and using the sale of a stake in Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) to pay off debts. It expects SkyCity\u2019s earnings to improve from fiscal 2026 amid an economic recovery in New Zealand and increased earnings potential from operations like NZICC, Horizon Hotel and car parks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Analysts have maintained a stable outlook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":18781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"S&P Global Ratings has affirmed SkyCity Entertainment Group's BBB- credit rating, forecasting weakened credit metrics in FY24-25 but within current tolerances due to proactive debt reduction. SkyCity is prioritizing debt repayment through dividend suspension and the sale of its Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) stake, with earnings expected to improve from FY26 amid New Zealand's economic recovery.","focusai_entities":"S&P Global Ratings, SkyCity Entertainment Group, Gaming Innovation Group (GiG)","focusai_location":"New Zealand","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), operator_casino (0.8), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Debt Reduction Impact","query":"What specific long-term implications does SkyCity's aggressive debt reduction strategy, including the GiG stake divestment and dividend suspension, have on its capital structure and future M&A capacity?"},{"label":"NZ Market Recovery","query":"How might the projected economic recovery in New Zealand from FY26 influence SkyCity's GGR and NGR across its gaming verticals, and what are the key indicators for this recovery?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,157],"tags":[24411],"class_list":["post-777016856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-business-news","tag-skycity-entertainment-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777016856","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\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777016856"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777016856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777016877,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777016856\/revisions\/777016877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777016856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777016856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777016856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}