1:25 pm today

SkyCity warns shareholders of $94.3m writedown

1:25 pm today
Australia: SkyCity Adelaide casino and hotel building viewed from the riverbank during sunset time on September 7, 2020.

SkyCity Adelaide Photo: 123RF / Andrey Moisseyev

Casino operator SkyCity Entertainment has warned shareholders of a $94.3 million writedown on its Adelaide casino.

The company said the non-cash charge reflected the costs of the move to electronic gambling cards.

It said it had updated cost assumptions about making it mandatory for all players to use e-cards, rather than cash, at its Adelaide casino in 2026.

Another driver behind the writedown was the additional legal and compliance costs that came with host responsibility programmes for staff.

SkyCity said it was committed to implementing mandatory e-cards across all casinos to better monitor customer play and manage risk.

It also expected to record a one-off tax charge of $129.6m in its financial statements for the year ended June.

This comes after the government removed the ability to depreciate commercial buildings.

SkyCity said the charges would not impact underlying earnings or profit for the financial year ended June.

It will report its earnings on 22 August.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs