This morning Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) reported its half-year results for the period ending December 31 2018. Below is a summary of the results with comparisons to the prior corresponding half.
- Reported net profit of $174.4 million, down 26.7% after significant items in pcp, or down 9.9% before significant items
- Adjusted profit of $194.1 million, up 0.1%
- Normalised EBITDA of $418.8 million, down 6.5%
- Revenue of $1,478 million, down from $1,594 million
- Earnings per share of 25.6 cents, compared to 34.6 cents
- Interim dividend of 30 cents per share (18 cents of total franked)
- Australian resorts normalised revenue of $1,536.7 million, down 1.2%
- Total outstanding debt of $1,091 million
- Outstanding debt "less available cash" of $7.5 million
- Crown bought back $131.4 million worth of shares over period
The Crown share price is down 5.5% to $11.52 on the profit, revenue, and dividend falls in a result management blamed on weaker economic conditions, while the group is probably also still cycling the fallout from China's crackdown on the luring of high-value gamblers to Melbourne.
Crown's core asset remains its dominant Crown Melbourne business that contributed $314.9 million of $418.8 million in total operating income. This remains an attractive asset in that it faces little competition in a major city, while the business is also still investing in developing its Crown Sydney hotel and casino assets to compete with the Star Casino operated by Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR).
On current valuations, Crown offers a yield of 5.2% on around 23x annualised earnings per share.
