Casino latest victim of rail delays
Commuters aren’t alone in their frustration with delayed rail projects – Adelaide Casino is also losing out.
New Zealand-based SkyCity, owners of the casino at Adelaide Railway Station, blamed rail delays for flat revenue in its annual report to shareholders, tabled this week at the company’s AGM in Auckland.
Revenue at the casino has been flat, due in part to the State’s soft economy and the rail delays, chairman Nigel Morrison told shareholders.
“A soft economy continued to beset Adelaide this year, with ongoing uncertainty over mining plans and a consequent softening in overall confidence,” Morrison said.
“Normalised revenue of A$160.4 million was flat.
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“In January, the railway station that the casino sits above was closed for electrification – meaning no trains coming to our site, another of the major rail-lines still has not re-opened and no carparks.
“Our people certainly had to work hard to maintain visitation and revenue – and they did a good job in such challenging circumstances focusing on costs and increasing normalised (pre-tax earnings) margin to 23.6 percent.”
The casino operator said there were some recent positive signs.
“More recently,earnings have picked up – a sign perhaps that the worst of the downturn is over.”
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The pain from rail delays, however, is likely to continue with Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis admitting yesterday the scheduled September re-opening of the Noarlunga line was “45 to 60 days” away.
The line has been closed for nine months for upgrade work.
Similar delays were experienced with the re-opening of the Belair line.
SkyCity’s report also outlined the schedule of works for the proposed redevelopment of its casino and entertainment complex.
“In July 2013, changes to the gaming legislation in South Australia passed through Parliament, paving the way for us to finalise our agreements with the Government,” the report said.
“Two key phases of development will follow.
“The first will be the refurbishment of our existing operations … to be completed during the first half of the year in 2014.
“In the second phase, we will seek development and planning approvals for our new development including the 6-star hotel, extended gaming and signature food and beverage restaurants.
“All going well, we should start construction of these in early to mid 2014 with a view to completion by mid-to-end 2016 calendar year.”
SkyCity’s general manager of business development Aaron Morrison relocated to Adelaide in January to lead the transformation.
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