In Australia and casino operator Crown Resorts Limited has announced that it expects to record a loss for the twelve months to the end of last June of up to $188 million to take its historical net debt to as high as approximately $678 million.

The Melbourne-headquartered firm used an official press release (pdf) to declare that its forecast deficit for the most recent fiscal year comes after its properties were temporarily shuttered at various points as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequently placed under numerous ‘operating restrictions’ that encompassed ‘capacity limits and physical distancing protocols.’

Continuing curve:

Sydney-listed Crown Resorts Limited is responsible for its home nation’s giant Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth facilities in addition the new non-gambling Crown Sydney development and revealed in February that its first-half deficit had grown by 155% year-on-year to around $93.5 million. The operator moreover detailed that this six-month deterioration had been accompanied by an analogous 62.1% drop in aggregated revenues to about $449.4 million as its two largest Australian casinos booked combined receipts of just $392 million.

Gloomy guess:

Looking further ahead and Crown Resorts Limited used its most recent filing to proclaim that it ‘continues to operate in an uncertain environment’ and that its financial results for the upcoming twelve months are likely to be negatively impacted by ‘a number of factors’ including continuing ‘closures and operating restrictions’ related to the coronavirus pandemic. The company also pronounced that it remains subject to ‘a number of regulatory processes’ associated with ongoing examinations by authorities in the states of Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria and may incur ‘increased corporate costs’ related to these investigations.

Junket jettison:

Additionally responsible for the United Kingdom’s prestigious Crown London Aspinalls, Crown Resorts Limited furthermore asserted that it ‘has been increasing resourcing and capability across a number of key areas’ as part of a reform agenda and recently hired in the region of 70 full-time staff members to fulfil financial crime, compliance and responsible gaming functions. The firm finished by stating that it is currently conducting a ‘significant player review’ that has resulted in the termination of ‘a number of customer relationships’ including with all of its junket partners.

Read the filing from Crown Resorts Limited…

“Crown Resorts Limited continues to monitor and respond to the impacts of the current challenging operating environment. Crown Resorts Limited is also undertaking a review of the potential gaming tax under-payment recently referred to in the Victorian Royal Commission and will update the market once our review is complete.”

Damning discovery:

Regarding this developing probe and The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported that the inquiry’s chief investigator recently criticized Crown Resorts Limited after finding objectionable and often illegal conduct at every level of its Crown Melbourne property. Former Federal Court Judge Ray Finkelstein (pictured) purportedly disclosed that the operator’s suitability to hold a Victoria casino license remains in doubt owing to ‘misconduct or unacceptable behavior from people high-up and low down and in-between.’

Finkelstein reportedly told the newspaper…

“Wherever I look I see not just bad conduct but illegal conduct, improper conduct, unacceptable conduct and it permeates the whole organization.”