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Crown Resorts recorded a $199 million loss last financial year as the cost of remediation, financial penalties and improved compliance measures at its casinos combined with the cost-of-living crunch to wipe out its profits for a third year in a row.
The result– revealed in documents uploaded to the financial regulator late on Wednesday– is a significant improvement on the near $1 billion loss in the COVID-19-affected year prior, when the Blackstone-owned casino giant was hit with multiple financial penalties and undertook an expensive compliance overhaul following historic anti-money laundering and counterterrorism failings.
Crown Resorts has recorded $199 million in losses for the 2023 financial year as the cost of living crunch and expensive remediation plans eat into its earnings. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Crown’s report said it generated $2.7 billion in revenue over the financial year ended July across its casinos in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth as well as its private London members club and digital arm, a 44 per cent improvement on 2022. But a hefty $3 billion in expenses pushed it into the red.
“During the 2023 financial year, Crown continued to face challenges in relation to regulatory matters, with independent monitors at each of the Australian properties overseeing the gaming operations,” the company said in its financial report.
Crown Melbourne generated $1.4 billion in revenue over the period, a significant increase on the COVID-19 affected year prior, where its flagship premises made just $939 million.
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Crown Perth’s revenue increased by 16 per cent to $854 million.
Sales at Crown Sydney– which opened its gaming floors in August 2022– increased by 139 per cent to $271 million when including the contributions from the Barangaroo tower’s tenants.
Crown’s Barangaroo casino was forced to close one of its two gaming floors and axe 95 jobs in August, just one year into operations due to insufficient foot traffic.
The business said at the time the decision was motivated by “the current macroeconomic challenges facing our industry alongside other Australian businesses.”
Crown is also preparing to pay one of the biggest financial penalties in Australian corporate history, with the Federal Court imposing a $450 million fine in July for the group’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorism failings at its casinos in Melbourne and Perth which were originally exposed by this masthead’s 2019 investigation.
More to come.
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