Crown posts slump in gambling turnover

Crown Resorts said that a Chinese VIP slump hit profit, which is an effect of the impact of fear of coronavirus.

Australia.- Crown Resorts has released financial results that indicate that a slump in gambling turnover from Chinese VIP ended up hurting half-yearly profit. The company says that travel restrictions related to coronavirus would hurt business.

Normalised net profit fell 11% to US$115.6 million for the six months ending December 31. Turnover from VIP high rollers fell down more than a third during that period. Chief Executive Ken Barton said on an analyst call that the company was impacted by continued soft market conditions and exacerbated by the recent negative publicity.

Crown said that it is facing the challenge of travel restrictions aimed to slow down the spread of the coronavirus epidemic that originated in China. It is also facing the challenge of community uncertainty that is keeping gamblers away from tables.

“People would be cautious about going into crowded places at the moment,” Barton said on the call.

“Crown’s first-half 2020 results highlight a weak operating performance,” said credit-ratings firm Moody’s. “We expect the coronavirus will have a moderate impact on full-year 2020 earnings, with the company having reported softer trading conditions following the travel restrictions as well as general uncertainty around the virus,” Moody’s said.