Sky City on acquisitions lookout - paper

By NZPA

Wednesday 4th September 2002

Auckland-based casino operator Sky City could be in the market for another Australian acquisition, according to an Australian newspaper.

The Australian Financial Review has reported that as Sky City's Adelaide casino begins to turn around, the company has adopted an acquisitional mood at a post-results roadshow in Australia.

Managing director Evan Davies said the company would now be comfortable making another acquisition "similar in scale to Adelaide", which it bought for $A180 million ($NZ213.82 million) in June 2000.

"The job we're doing with Adelaide shows we can reposition and create value in existing operations," he told the paper. "We're in a position where we have the capacity to make further acquisitions."

Analysts are picking the most likely candidate is Perth-based casino operator Burswood, with a market cap of $A330 million ($NZ392 million). But Mr Davies told the AFR he was "not sure it would be too big for us".

Mr Davies would not give more details but did not rule out a merger with another Australian player or a buyback or capital return.

As a group, Sky City recently reported a 21.3 percent rise in full net profit to $85 million, excluding abnormals. It has posted a compound annual growth rate in earnings per share (EPS) of 22.4 percent over the past four years,

With the New Zealand government about to legislate a ban on new casinos, Sky City has hinted before it is open to further opportunties in Australia and possibly Britain.

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