With the SkyCity Adelaide Casino no longer for sale, the SkyCity Entertainment Group CEO Nigel Morrison is due in the city later this week to decide on the property’s future. The company bought South Australia’s only destination casino, located in the historic Adelaide Railway Station, in June 2000 but recently put it on the market because it was considered to be underperforming. Development plans, that included a new underground car park, had been put on hold.

Nigel Morrison, who became the new CEO on 3 March, is examining different ways to improve SkyCity’s performance. He intends to focus on attracting more Asian high rollers to the company’s casinos in New Zealand and Australia and to increase its share of the annual lucrative international gambling market. Morrison, an Australian, was previously the Chief Financial Officer at Galaxy Entertainment, the Hong Kong and Macau gaming company.

The SkyCity flagship casino in Auckland has completed a $40 million upgrade to the gaming floor and is now addressing service and ambient issues such as lighting and music. Morris anticipates that within six months group operating profits will rise more than the 0.4% increase in the last half year. The Auckland operation produces the majority of the company’s earnings. The potential sale of SkyCity Cinemas is also being considered to allow the company to focus on its gaming operations. (E-03.18.09)

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