SkyCity Entertainment Group has posted disappointing half-year net profit numbers after announcing that net profit after tax for the six months to December 31 were 10.6% lower year-on-year.

The New Zealand-based casino operator posted normalized revenue of NZ$510 million ($377 million) in the same time period, an increase of 9.2% from the previous period. Likewise, the company’s EBITDA numbers also increased by 3.1% to NZ$154.4 million ($114 million) while normalized NPAT bumped up by 0.3% to NZ$66.6 million ($49 million).

But none of that small growth could prevent SkyCity from posting a drop in net profit after tax, which the company said resulted from a lower-than-average win rate of just 1.04%, below the theoretical rate of 1.35 per cent, and difficult conditions in Australia where the company’s operations in Adelaide and Darwin specifically have been affected by rebuilding challenges.

Despite the short dip in profit, SkyCity CEO Nigel Morrison said that the company has gotten off to a good start in January, which pulled the actual group-wide IB win to above theoretical number of  1.50%. “The interim results for FY15 are pleasing, with strong momentum in the Group’s core businesses,” Morrison said.

Of all of its businesses, SkyCity’s flagship business in Auckland pulled in most of the work after generating a little over NZ $302.5 million ($224 million) in revenue, a 17% improvement that’s similar to its EBITDA of NZ$124.3 million ($92 million).

Meanwhile, the company’s ambitious SkyCity convention center is in danger of becoming an “eyesore” unless the government steps in and infuses more cash into the project. That was the sentiment shared by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who indicated that his administration is looking into different ways to help SkyCity fund the project after the casino operator admitted to needing an extra $70 to $130 million to be able to complete the project.

“But the escalation in prices to build the convention center, which is bigger than was proposed and is flasher than what was proposed, means there’s a hole,” Key said as quoted by Stuff.co.nz.