SkyCity’s ‘trough’ year forecast proves accurate as revenue drops

Thursday, 19 February 2026

The release of SkyCity’s half-year results has proven right its chief executive Jason Walbridge who warned shareholders last year that 2026 could be a “trough” year for the casino operator.

Revenue was down, and costs were up, in the six months to the end of December, compared to the same period in 2025, the company reported to shareholders on Thursday, with Walbridge saying the company was in a period of transition.

Revenue for the period was 2.4% lower than in the corresponding period in 2025 at $411.7 million, however its unaudited profit was up from $6m to $12m.

The company has put dividends on hold following a capital-raising last year, and is pursuing a $200m asset sales programme, and was undertaking a “cost out” programme across its New Zealand and Australian operations.

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However, the asset sales programme was not going well, and attempts to sell its Auckland precinct car park concession had not generated any acceptable offers, shareholders were told, and advisers had been hired to look at what other assets could be sold.

SkyCity had already decided that its 99 Albert Street head office was not a core asset, and would be sold.

The half-year result was the casino and entertainment operator’s first announcement since the opening of the New Zealand International Convention Centre last week, which is expected to drive revenue for its hotels and restaurants.

The convention centre is forecast to bring in excess of 33,000 new international visitors to Auckland every year, injecting more than $90 million into the city’s economy annually.

Walbridge appeared to exclude the possibility of the convention centre being classed as a non-core asset, and put up for sale.

“We’re very proud of it and we’re focused on welcoming the world and New Zealand at the moment. That’s where our absolute focus is today,” Walbridge said.

After several years of missteps including getting offside with gambling and money laundering regulators in New Zealand and Australia, its share price dropped from over $2 to just 87 cents.

SkyCity has been investing heavily in its compliance systems.

Its casinos in Auckland, Hamilton, Queenstown, and Adelaide have moved to “carded play” so people who want to gamble at its casino tables and pokie machines must have SkyCity-issued cards.

This allows the company to better identify who people are, and to monitor them for signs of problem gambling, ad exclude people suspected of being linked to organised crime.

The introduction of carded play, however, affected gambling activity, Walbridge said.

The threat of losing its casino licence in Adelaide remained, though Walbridge said SkyCity was doing all it could, and was on track with its three-year remediation programme there.

Last year, SkyCity was found to be still fit to hold its Adelaide casino licence despite historical failings, however South Australia's Liquor and Gambling Commissioner is still considering what, if any, other steps to take.

SkyCity was also advanced in its application to secure a Maltese online gaming licence.

Walbridge said applying for the Maltese licence was something of a “dress rehearsal” for the introduction in May in New Zealand of laws banning online gambling companies from targeting New Zealanders unless they have New Zealand licences to do so.

Walbridge expected that the regulated New Zealand online gambling market would open for business between December 1 and June 1 next year.

Many New Zealanders already gamble online with non-regulated operations, and the Government hopes the law change will bring order to the market, and raise tax revenue for the government.

Shareholders expressed annoyance at SkyCity’s annual shareholder meeting in October that the company had failed to thrive despite owning monopoly casino assets in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown.

One was concerned that heading into the highly contested online gaming space might see the company take its focus off making money from its monopoly assets.

Walbridge said: “We’re very very focused on our retail business. That is never ever going to change. That is our core business. That’s our bread and butter.

“Online gaming is a natural extension because some of our retail customers play online and they would like us to be able to offer an online gaming solution in a regulated market environment,” he said.

The company also hopes for a large cash injection from a lawsuit in which it is suing Fletcher Building for $330m over losses from the late opening of the convention centre, which was behind schedule even before a massive fire gutted it in 2019.

Despite SkyCity’s efforts, costs were higher in the six months to the end of December compared with the corresponding period a year earlier, but Walbridge said that reflected various factors including investment in its compliance systems.

SkyCity employs 4500 people in Australia and New Zealand.

He would not be drawn on whether part of the cost-out programme would see staffing numbers drop.