Aug 17  - New Zealand's largest casino operator Sky City Entertainment Group Ltd. (SKC.NZ) reported a 11.5 percent decrease in full year net profit on Tuesday, and said earnings would continue to be hit by an uncertain economy.
Sky City made a net profit of NZ$102 million ($71.8 million) in the year ended June 30, compared with a NZ$115.3 million profit the year before.
On June 22 the company said it expected reported net profit to be between NZ$136 million and NZ$140 million, and adjusted profit between NZ$126 million and NZ$130 million, in the wake of tax changes announced in the government's May budget. [ID:nWLF004693]
Sky City said profit before the tax adjustment was NZ$141.7 million, including the NZ$10 million gain on the sale of its cinema chain.
Normalised for all one-off items Sky City said its profit was NZ$129.1 million.
At its profit result in August 2009, Sky City had said it expected double digit earnings growth in the June 2010 year after a refurbishment at its flagship Auckland casino, and strong performance from its Australian operations.
Sky City declared a dividend of 9.5 cents per share, compared with 6.5 cents per share last year.
Shares in Sky City closed on Monday at NZ$2.99 having dropped around 9 percent so far this year, compared with a 6.4 percent fall in the benchmark NZSX-50 index .NZ50.
Sky City owns or has an interest in four casinos in New Zealand, where a ban on new casinos has given it dominance.
It also has casinos in Adelaide and Darwin in Australia, where it competes with Tabcorp (TAH.AX) and Crown Ltd (CWN.AX). (NZ$1=$1.42)