Asian VIP gamblers treat The Star like dogs treat fire hydrants

Australian casino operator The Star Entertainment Group saw its profit plunge in the second half of 2017 as VIP gamblers treated the company like dogs treat fire hydrants.

Figures released Friday show The Star’s statutory revenue rising a modest 3.3% to A$1.27b (US$1b) in the six months ending December 31, 2017. But earnings fell more than one-third to A$200m and net profit after tax plunged 76.8% to just A$32.9m.

The ‘normalized’ results, which smooth out the traditionally wild variance in VIP gambling activity, read far more positively. Normalized revenue was up 16% to A$1.36m, earnings improved nearly 12% to A$280m and net profits were up 12.4% to A$120.4m. (Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to binge on cheeseburgers and then hop on this ‘normalized’ weight scale, which will tell me that everything is just fine.)

Whatever way you slice it, the fiscal H1 was done in by an “abnormally low” international VIP (read: Asian gambling whales) win rate of just 1.06%, well below the benchmark 1.35% rate and miles away from the 1.62% rate The Star enjoyed in the same period one year earlier.