Shares in SkyCity Entertainment Group have been temporarily suspended while the casino operator seeks new investment.
Reports from The Australian suggest that SkyCity is aiming to attract AU$200m (£95.9m) in funding to help boost its struggling balance sheet, as the company prepares to release its financial results for the 2025 financial year.
“SkyCity is aware of certain media reports regarding the proposed capital raise and its 2025 results but is not presently in a position to make an announcement regarding the capital raise, as no final decision has been made to proceed and the final details are still being determined,” SkyCity said.
“Accordingly, a trading halt is required to maintain an orderly market while SkyCity works to finalise the capital raise and its FY25 Results.”
Sky City expects the trading halt to last until the opening of trading on the NZX on 21 August, by which time it believes it will be in a position to announce if it has successfully raised capital.
However, the company noted that it expects it will request a further one day trading halt if any capital raises do proceed.
SkyCity ended the year with debt of $NZ722.4m (£316.7m) against a market value of $692m (£332m) on the ASX.
In May, the company cited deteriorating market conditions as it updated its previous guidance for its FY25 results, confirming that it expects Group EBITDA to fall 4% below the bottom of its guidance range of NZ$225m and NZ$245m.
Earlier this month, SkyCity Adelaide was deemed suitable to hold a casino licence by an independent review, concluding a multi-year investigation into its operations.
The report, conducted by Honourable Brian Martin AO KC and released by Brett Humphrey, the Commissioner for Liquor and Gambling in South Australia – also determined that SkyCity Entertainment Group is suitable to be a close associate of SkyCity Adelaide.
However, despite accepting the report’s findings, Humphrey noted that this by no means gives “a clean bill of health” for SkyCity Adelaide and that further work will be undertaken to determine next steps and possible enforcement action.
SkyCity Adelaide and SkyCity acknowledged that the report highlighted its shortcomings, including in governance, AML/CFT and host responsibility, apologised for its failings.
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