SkyCity Says Will Meet Yearly Profit Expectations

15 July 2008

New Zealand-based SkyCity Entertainment Group says it will meet its after-tax profit expectations of between $108 million and $110 million for the year ended June 30.

"There's a lot of concern that in this environment there are a lot of companies contemplating earnings downgrades and we wanted to confirm that we weren't," said chief executive Nigel Morrison.

SkyCity's Auckland casino, which generates 70 percent of overall earnings, serves a mainly local market so has not faced the same downturn as Las Vegas and other destinations due to declines in tourism.

The company has also indicated that it will not expand its Adelaide casino in South Australia unless the state government loosens some of its restrictions.