JP Morgan: Australian casino company Crown Resorts Ltd net profits have seen a dip and the report says the decision not to invest in Sri Lanka has had a negative impact on their profits. Crown Resorts Ltd reported net profit of AUD 201.8 million (US$157.5 million) for its fiscal year first half, down 47.2 percent year-on-year.
The result was pulled back by write downs on international projects, including in Sri Lanka, and a slide in earnings from Macau casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd (MCE). As a result, Crown's share of MCE's reported net profit fell by 42.2 percent year-on-year to AUD 85.3 million. Crown, controlled by Australian billionaire James Packer, also said that it had written down its investment in casino operator Cannery Casino Resorts LLC in the United States. The write downs - identified as 'significant items' -, amounting to AUD 61.3 million, included also costs associated with a proposed project in Sri Lanka, which has now been discontinued, the casino operator added.
An official from Board of Investment said that they have never asked Packer to exit. "What the government maintains is that no new casino licenses would be issued." A similar project undertaken by John Keells Holdings to build a resort hotel in Colombo 2 with a Casino too faced the same problem. However they will continue with the project sans the casino."
"We were the only country in the world where casino revenue wasn't taxed.
"It became an issue for us also because all religious leaders opposed it," Prime Minister Wickremesinghe told The Australian .
But Wickremesinghe said the door remained open to Australian investors who would find a newly open and transparent investment climate. "This whole business of crony capitalism, where only a few people got the permits, will be abolished," he said. "We are putting a new investment regime in place.
"We want to encourage direct foreign investment in the real economy, in manufacturing, agriculture and the services sectors", the PM said.
www.dailynews.lk
The result was pulled back by write downs on international projects, including in Sri Lanka, and a slide in earnings from Macau casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd (MCE). As a result, Crown's share of MCE's reported net profit fell by 42.2 percent year-on-year to AUD 85.3 million. Crown, controlled by Australian billionaire James Packer, also said that it had written down its investment in casino operator Cannery Casino Resorts LLC in the United States. The write downs - identified as 'significant items' -, amounting to AUD 61.3 million, included also costs associated with a proposed project in Sri Lanka, which has now been discontinued, the casino operator added.
An official from Board of Investment said that they have never asked Packer to exit. "What the government maintains is that no new casino licenses would be issued." A similar project undertaken by John Keells Holdings to build a resort hotel in Colombo 2 with a Casino too faced the same problem. However they will continue with the project sans the casino."
"We were the only country in the world where casino revenue wasn't taxed.
"It became an issue for us also because all religious leaders opposed it," Prime Minister Wickremesinghe told The Australian .
But Wickremesinghe said the door remained open to Australian investors who would find a newly open and transparent investment climate. "This whole business of crony capitalism, where only a few people got the permits, will be abolished," he said. "We are putting a new investment regime in place.
"We want to encourage direct foreign investment in the real economy, in manufacturing, agriculture and the services sectors", the PM said.
www.dailynews.lk
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