Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of NZ$233.7 million were also down nearly 16 per cent on the previous year.
However, reported EBITDA was up by more than 56 per cent and reported after-tax profits were NZ$29.2 million, following a loss of $143.3 million the previous financial year.
Underlying results tend to provide a better indication of a company’s financial position than reported figures as they strip out one-off financial events.
SkyCity attributed the lower revenue to a lower spend per visitor and higher customer churn amongst VIPs at SkyCity Adelaide.
“Our financial results reflect the difficult operating environment we’ve navigated in FY25,” said SkyCity Entertainment Group CEO, Jason Walbridge.
“The delayed economic recovery in New Zealand has led to lower discretionary spend impacting our business and that has come through the same time as a period of elevated investment.
“This investment has been centred around regulatory systems upgrades, B3, pre-opening costs for New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) and preparation for online casino gaming in New Zealand.
“We are looking forward to opening the doors to the NZICC in February. It’s a world-class venue and is already attracting large-scale events, exhibitions and concert interest.
“This will be a major catalyst for SkyCity and wider Auckland, with an estimated 500,000 extra visitations annually expected when operating at full capacity.”
SkyCity’s results release also showed that the performance of Horizon by SkyCity, the group’s new five-star hotel in Auckland that opened last August, had helped offset reduced revenue from gaming at SkyCity Auckland’s casino.
While $16 million is expected to be spent on the NZICC in this financial year – not including capital expenditure – in the 2027 financial year, the convention centre is expected to break even.
“We remain optimistic that we will see a recovery in spend per visit across our properties as the New Zealand economic backdrop improves, supported by a full year of visitation benefits from NZICC and the spend expected from that. SkyCity is well placed to maximise that opportunity when it occurs,” said Walbridge.
SkyCity has also announced an equity raising event, aimed at raising NZ$240 million in cash for the company through the issue and sale of 343 million new shares.
