Casino and resort giants Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) and Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR) held their respective annual general meetings on Thursday.
And judging by their share price performances today, I suspect it will have been Star Entertainment shareholders that left these events happiest.
Its shares ended the day 1.7% higher at $4.82, whereas the Crown Resorts share price ended the day down 2% at $12.26.
What happened?
As well as reminding shareholders about how the companies performed in the last financial year, both provided trading updates for FY 2019.
Crown Resorts executive chairman, John Alexander, revealed that its Australian resorts segment has had a mixed start to the financial year.
As of October 28, revenue from Crown's main floor gaming was down 0.6% on the prior corresponding period. This was due to a flat performance at its Melbourne casinos and a further decline in Perth.
Non-gaming revenue, however, was up 3.5% on the prior corresponding period and VIP program play turnover at Australian resorts increased 13%. Crown's current wagering and online social gaming businesses, Betfair Australasia and DGN Games, each showed revenue growth during the period.
Star Entertainment has had a much stronger start to the financial year. Its presentation revealed that group domestic revenue is up 6.7% on the prior corresponding period.
In addition to this, its International VIP business' normalised revenue is in line with the prior period. However, statutory results are up strongly on the back of a better than theoretical win rate in early FY 2019.
Should you invest?
Due to their exposure to the tourism boom, I think Crown, Star, and SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited (ASX: SKC) could be great long-term investments.
My preference remains Crown Resorts. Although it hasn't had the strongest start to FY 2019, I believe it operations are the strongest in the group and the Barangaroo development will be a key driver of future growth.
