R92 Gambling Activities

Crown property assets spin-off on the cards

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Original article by James Thomson, Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 1-May-20

Citi analyst Bryan Raymond contends having Blackstone as a new shareholder increases the likelihood that casino operator Crown Resorts could spin-off its property assets. Crown contemplated the idea in June 2016, but abandoned the idea some months later. It is estimated Crown’s property assets could be worth up to $5.6 billion, while Dean Dransfield from consultants Dransfield Hotels and Resorts says Crown should only sell its accommodation assets.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, CITI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BLACKSTONE, DRANSFIELD HOTELS AND RESORTS PTY LTD

Crown pays out $205m as staff languish

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 17-Apr-20

Crown Resorts CEO Ken Barton says a new $1bn debt financing deal will assist the group to ride out the impact of the coronavirus lockdown and complete work on its Barangaroo casino in Sydney. Crown has stood down some 11,500 employees since closing down its Melbourne and Perth casinos in late March, while it has confirmed that shareholders will receive the previously-declared interim dividend of $0.30 per share. Rival casino operator The Star Entertainment Group has stood down 8,500 employees and deferred its interim dividend. Both companies have registered for the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, THE STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGR

Crown casino inquiry put on ice

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 15 : 6-Apr-20

The New South Wales Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority has advised that its inquiry into casino operator Crown Resorts has been put on hold as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. It says the inquiry will resume when it is considered "safe and practicable" to do so. The focus of the inquiry is the proposed sale of shares in Crown to Lawrence Ho’s Hong Kong-based casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment by James Packer’s CPH Crown Holdings.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, MELCO RESORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED, CPH CROWN HOLDINGS, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT LIQUOR AND GAMING AUTHORITY, THE STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGR

Crown, Star close every second pokie to keep punters apart

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 19 : 17-Mar-20

Crown Resorts will shut down every second poker machine and electronic gaming table at its Melbourne casino complex. This follows the decision by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to declare a state of emergency, in order to try and curtail the spread of the coronavirus. The shutting of poker machines and electronic gaming tables is one of a number of social distancing measures that Crown will adopt at its Melbourne complex, with its social distancing policy being approved by the Victorian Chief Health Officer. Star Entertainment is shutting down half of the poker machines and electronic gaming tables at its Pyrmont casino in Sydney.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, THE STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGR

In this sports betting company, the winners are called problem customers

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Original article by Steve Cannane, Kyle Taylor
abc.net au – Page: Online : 6-Dec-19

Former employees of UK-based wagering giant Bet365 have revealed the strategies it uses to protect its profit margins. The whistleblowers say Bet365 uses complex algorithms to identify customers who have a high win rate and limit the size of the bets that they can place via its platform. The algorithms are also used to target punters who lose frequently, in order to increase their betting limits. In-play betting is one of Bet365’s biggest sources of revenue globally, although it is restricted to telephone betting in Australia. An internal document shows that Bet365 is concerned that telephone-based in-play betting is easier for customers to exploit than online betting.

CORPORATES
BET365 GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Aussie winner declared bad for the bookies

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Original article by Mark Schliebs
The Australian – Page: 6 : 6-Nov-19

TAB has reported that its turnover for the 10 races at Flemington on 5 November was $160.7m, which is 5.9 per cent lower than previously. TAB’s turnover on the Melbourne Cup itself was $106m. TAB processed up to 108,000 bets per minute on Cup Day, while the numbers of wagers process by Sportsbet peaked at 35,000 per minute. Racing Victoria CEO Giles Thompson says the fact that an Australian-bred and trained horse won the Melbourne Cup is likely to have affected bookmakers’ profits, as many punters backed the local horse.

CORPORATES
TAB LIMITED, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, SPORTSBET AUSTRALIA, RACING VICTORIA LIMITED, BETEASY PTY LTD, LADBROKES GROUP PLC, MELBOURNE RACING CLUB

Tabcorp takes a punt on NFL deal

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 19 : 19-Sep-19

Wagering company Tabcorp announced on 18 September that it would become the US National Football League’s official wagering partner in Australia. The multi-year agreement is seen as part of Tabcorp’s push to make Sky Channel the home of US sport in Australia, and will include Sky Channel broadcasting one NFL game each Monday morning during the NFL season across its network of more than 4,400 clubs, pubs and TABs.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Crown closed out risk probe

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 26-Aug-19

The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation recommended in 2018 that Crown Resorts review its anti-money-laundering controls and internal risks systems. The recommendations resulted from the VCGLR’s review of Crown’s Victorian casino licence, with the VCGLR advising Crown to get help from Austrac in the review of its anti-money-laundering controls. Crown has stated both reviews were completed over a month before allegations regarding its links with organised crime were raised in the media.

CORPORATES
VICTORIAN COMMISSION FOR GAMBLING AND LIQUOR REGULATION, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

Tabcorp says lotteries demerger calls total nonsense

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 15-Aug-19

Gambling company Tabcorp released its 2018-19 full year results, reporting an underlying net profit of $397.6 million, up 42.5 per cent. It was the first full-year results released by Tabcorp since its $11 billion merger with Tatts Group, with Tabcorp’s lotteries division reporting a 29 per cent increase in EBITDA to $509 million. However, its wagering and media division saw its EBITDA fall 7.9 per cent to $416 million. Commenting on calls for Tabcorp to demerge its lotteries business, CEO David Attenborough said there were no plans to do so.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT

Star boss breaks silence on tarnished Crown

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Original article by Natasha Gillezeau
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 9-Aug-19

Star Entertainment Group CEO Matt Bekier says junkets are an long-established feature of the gaming and wagering sector. The use of junkets by casino companies has been in the news recently, with media reports claiming that some of the ‘junket’ operators that Star rival Crown Resorts uses to entice Chinese ‘high-rollers’ to Australia have connections to organised crime. In terms of how Star uses junkets, Bekier says its investors can be confident it is doing the right thing.

CORPORATES
THE STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGR, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN