Despite the economic downturn Crown Limited casinos in Melbourne and Perth performed well but the company has written down to nil the carrying value of its minority investments in US casino groups Fontainebleau, Station, and Harrah’s, Canada’s Gateway Casinos and Aspinalls in the UK. It also wrote down its remaining investment in Cannery Casino Resorts after abandoning its planned acquisition last March.

In its Financial Year report to 30 June 2009, Crown announced revenue from operations rose 2% to A$2.26 billion with an annual net loss for the period of A$1.2 billion from continuing operations. At the Australian casinos main floor gaming generated strong growth of 6.9% and VIP programme play turnover reached A$34.8 billion, an all time record.

The Chief Executive Officer of Crown, Mr Rowen Craigie said: “Crown’s wholly-owned Australian casinos, Crown Melbourne and Burswood, performed well in a challenging environment and are among the best performing casinos in Australia and the world. Both casinos are mid way through major refurbishment and expansion programs which will further enhance earnings. Crown Melbourne and Burswood have both made a solid start to the new financial year and the outlook for both properties is positive.”

He continued, “Crown remains excited about the prospects for our Melco Crown investment in Macau. City of Dreams and Altira are two of the most spectacular properties in Macau. Current developments point to the resumption of growth in the overall Macau gaming market. Recent trends in gaming activity at the newly opened City of Dreams property have been encouraging.”

The CEO admitted that Crown’s investments in North America were ill-timed but added, “Despite the write-downs Crown has one of the strongest balance sheets of any gaming company in the world. Crown’s capability and financial strength places it in a strong position for the future. Our principal efforts over the next twelve months will be to further enhance Crown’s Australian operations and work closely with our joint venture partners to optimise the value of our Macau and other overseas investments” (E-08.27.09)

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