SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited (NS) Analysis

Overview

SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited is a leading entertainment and gaming business with a great brand and an iconic status as a New Zealand and Australian listed company. It operates monopoly casinos in New Zealand (Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown) and Australia (Adelaide), alongside a variety of industry leading restaurants and bars, luxury hotels and convention centres.

Entertainment is the core business and SkyCity has a strong and enviable collection of assets, including some of the most significant major urban monopoly casino licences in New Zealand and Australia.

SkyCity is listed on NZX under the symbol of SKC since September 1995. It is also dual-listed on ASX since March 1999.

SKC has been granted Listing with a 'Non-Standard' ("NS") designation. This designation was granted due to the nature of SKC's constitution which contains various provisions reflecting the gaming legislation in the jurisdictions in which SKC operates, including provisions regulating the transfer and voting rights of its Ordinary Shares. For further information, please see SKC's annual report.

Performance

The following information was extracted from SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited's full year results, released 21 August 2025:

Key features:

• Group revenue $825.2m – 5% lower than the prior period underlying revenue; lower spend per visit and higher VIP customer churn in Adelaide

• Reported Group EBITDA $216.1m – 56.4% above the prior period; prior period included $139m of significant or one-off items

• Underlying Group EBITDA $233.7m* – excludes Building a Better Business programme (B3) costs of $17.6m from Reported EBITDA of $216.1m, 15.9% lower than the prior period

• Reported Group NPAT $29.2m – includes a $27.3m impact from the South Australian casino duty settlement, and compared with a loss of $143.3m in the prior period

• Underlying Group NPAT $71.5m* – excludes the impact of the South Australian casino duty settlement and the B3 costs, compared with $123.3m in the prior period • FY26 earnings guidance – full year underlying EBITDA expected to be within range of $190 – $210m

• Independent Review of SkyCity Adelaide – suitability confirmed

• Carded Play now live – successfully launched across all New Zealand sites in July

• Customer visitation remains strong, up 4.6% on prior period – lower spend due to challenging economic conditions continues

• NZICC on track to open in February 2026 – solid pre-opening pipeline of events

• $240m Equity Raise – announced today to provide balance sheet resilience alongside asset monetisation over next 12 – 18 months

• No dividend declared

Financial Performance

Reported Group EBITDA of $216.1 million is in line with the guidance provided in May, and up 56% on the prior period due to a number of one-off significant accounting adjustments in FY24.

Reported Group NPAT of $29.2 million was up on the prior corresponding period loss of $143 million – which included those significant accounting adjustments – and after providing for the interest associated with the resolution of the long-standing gaming duty matter in South Australia.

Underlying Group NPAT of $71.5 million was down 42% on the prior corresponding period due to the lower level of earnings and increased interest expense, partially offset by a lower tax expense.

Underlying Group revenue of $825.2 million is down 5% on the prior corresponding period with Underlying Group EBITDA of $233.7 million down 16% on the prior corresponding period, due primarily to lower customer spend levels, increased churn of VIP customers in Adelaide and elevated costs related to upgrading regulatory systems, pre-opening costs for the NZICC and continuing to invest in our online gaming capability.