Despite its efforts, The Star continues to face complications, with the most recent news that equity manager Perpetual Ltd. unloaded some AU$26 million ($17.17 million) in company stock.
The news doesn’t bode well for The Star’s stock price, as analysts at The Motley Fool noted that the stock has fallen 20 percent over the past week and nearly 60 percent year-to-date.
The sale comes amongst the ongoing fallout of the Bell Two inquiry, after which the future of the group’s Sydney casino license remains in question.
The announcement of the inquiry also resulted in a trading halt which caused a near 50 percent drop in the company’s stock value.
While investors have been coerced into providing the company a financial lifeline, this has not halted trading speculation, although some holdouts remain, such as pokie magnate Bruce Mathieson (holding nearly 10 percent of the company’s shares).
The Star fell to negative EBITDA in the last financial quarter, weighed down by a ‘challenging operating environment and the continued implementation of mandatory carded play and cash limits’.
However, the group did manage to slightly improve its financials during the period, bringing available cash up to AU$149 million ($98 million), aided by the sale of the Treasury Brisbane Casino building.
The AU$200 million ($131.54 million) lifeline being granted by lenders was still being finalized as of late last month, and the financials didn’t include the new AU$15 million ($9.87 million) fine imposed by the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission (NICC) in regards to The Star Sydney.
The group’s casino at the property will remain under the NICC-appointed manager Nick Weeks ‘until at least 31 March 2025’.
