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August 23rd, 2013 
Peter Nolan
CASINOS operator Crown expects its interests in the Asian gambling hub of Macau to grow into a major contributor to profit alongside its Australian venues.
Crown chief executive Rowen Craigie says the Macau gaming market is geared to the Chinese economy, which is growing three times faster than Australia’s economy.
Premium mass market gaming in Macau, or the upper end of gaming offered to the general public, has grown by at least 10 per cent, he said.
“You can expect that the Macau market over the long term will grow more than the Australian market, which is relatively mature,” Mr Craigie told reporters on Friday.
Crown holds a stake of almost 34 per cent in Melco Crown Entertainment, the operator of the City of Dreams casino resort in Macau, which Mr Craigie said is the market leader in the premium mass market sector.
Melco Crown has plans to build a fifth hotel tower at City of Dreams, starting at the end of 2013, and the group also has a 60 per cent stake in Studio City, a new casino and resort expected to open in mid-2015.
Melco Crown was a major contributor to growth in what Crown calls its normalised profit in the 2012/13 financial year, bringing in $152.3 million.
Normalised profit excludes variations in the theoretical win rate in VIP gaming, and rose 14 per cent in 2012/13 to $473.2 million.
Mr Craigie said Crown’s casinos and resorts in Melbourne and Perth had a more mixed performance than its Macau interests.
Weak consumer sentiment and disruption caused by refurbishments resulted in revenue from its main gaming floor at Crown Melbourne edging just 0.9 per cent higher.
But VIP gaming revenue at Melbourne rose by 9.2 per cent.
At the newly expanded Perth casino, main floor gaming revenue grew by 9.7 per cent, and VIP revenue rose by 3.3 per cent.
“Perth’s main gaming floor probably outperformed every other casino in the country last year,” Mr Craigie said.
VIP revenue growth in Melbourne was “acceptable”, but Perth needed to do better, he said.
Crown’s net profit in 2012/13 was $395.8 million, down 23 per cent from the previous year.
The result was affected by a $69.6 million loss made on Crown’s sale of its investment in rival Echo Entertainment Group, plus $25.6 million in refinancing and development costs at Melco Crown.
Crown shares gained 76 cents, or 5.6 per cent, to $14.34.
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