Star Entertainment Group (Star Entertainment Group) will lay off 400 jobs in the next few days. The casino is trying to cope with a sharp decline in overseas tycoon VIP gamblers.
Matt Becker (Matt Bekier), the company`s chief executive, said the company could save up to A $50 million a year by implementing the planned cost savings ahead of time in order to reduce losses on, Star casino by cutting back on up to 20 per cent of behind-the-scenes staff. The following layoffs were mainly affected by the IT, Hotel, Human Resources and Finance departments.
He said super-rich VIP gamblers now have low confidence in global economic, and some very big gamblers will only stay here for a day or two, rather than a week or so as usual.
"the good news is that there are customers coming to our casino, but the bad news is that they don`t spend as much money as they used to," he said.
At the end of April, Becker sold 200000 shares at A $4.568 a share.
Although some predict a turnaround in the VIP market, the outlook remains bleak. In April, analysts were optimistic that the VIP market would rebound next year, but Becker did not expect a sharp rise in the near future.
He blames factors such as Easter and the Lunar New year, as well as federal and new state elections. Although last week`s rate cut was aimed at stimulating economic, it also sent a signal that Australia`s economic outlook remains relatively bleak.
"our customers are usually not so rational," he said. "when they are optimistic about their wealth and future prosperity, they come to visit us."
David, an gambling game industry analyst at Macquarie who studies (Macquarie Research)? Fabrice (David Fabris) said the overall results were disappointing as the Australian local business, which accounts for 85 percent of the company`s revenue, is already weak as a result of challenges to the macro economic environment.
Revenue growth in Australia in the second half of the year was well below Macquarie`s 4.5 percent forecast by (Macquarie Research).
Fabris attributed the decline in VIP gamblers to the tension between the US and China trade.
Without a solution, he said, the popularity of the VIP market should not improve.
One fund manager said, Star casino`s statement showed that the, gambling game industry was being hit.
Star casino said construction of its main casino was still under way, such as Queen wharf (Queen`s Wharf) of Brisbane and casino of the Gold Coast.
