Star losses rise with Queen's Wharf deal on verge of collapse
Underlying losses increased for the June quarter at Star, but the bigger problem is the possible eleventh-hour failure of the sale, according to an update to the ASX.
Star's quarterly report – which precedes audited financial accounts due next month – states that it made a loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization costs (EBITDA) of $27 million for the quarter ending June 30 on revenue of $270 million.
The casino operator said mandatory carded play and $5000 cash limits at its flagship Sydney casino have continued to drag on its gambling performance, with average daily revenue down 17 per cent since it was introduced in August last year.
Cash limits are due to drop to $1000 within weeks in Sydney, with its Queensland operations due to follow with similar reforms.
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Star also flagged that it is unlikely to finalise a deal to sell its share of Brisbane's Queen's Wharf casino to its consortium partners – Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium – by the July 31 deadline.
The parties are renegotiating the deal after the Asian partners threatened to walk away from the March agreement.
'In The Star's view, based on the current status of discussions, it is unlikely that the parties will be in a position to finalise long form documents by 31 July 2025,' it said.

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ABC News
12 minutes ago
- ABC News
ASX reporting season: tariffs and interest rate uncertainty loom over earnings and outlook
If 2025 has taught us anything so far, it's that nothing is certain but uncertainty, with tariff threats that change by the day, and interest rate decisions that defy market predictions. It sets a precarious backdrop for the biannual company profit reporting season, where ASX-listed firms open their books and provide investors with an update on their bottom lines. "Across the board, management teams will acknowledge the uncertainty that the tariff policies from [US President] Trump have caused," UBS equity strategist Richard Schellbach told The Business. Despite the uncertainty over the past few months, Mr Schellbach noted "equity markets have largely shrugged that off". "They've hit all-time highs in Australia and the US despite this lingering cloud, but management teams certainly will tread a cautious tone there. "It's an uncertain environment, and it's really unknown yet as to what the secondary impacts from it could be," he said of the Trump administration's tariffs. The tariff uncertainty will impact those sectors and companies with exposure to the US, which includes parts of the healthcare, building and leisure industries, Mr Schellbach said. "What we're going to see through August results is company management teams talk to the fact that it's still a tough operating environment. Market participants had widely forecast further interest rate relief by now, before the Reserve Bank defied expectations with its "on hold" decision in July, delaying a boost to the bottom line from lower borrowing costs. "Therefore, the analyst community is likely to push out further their earnings recovery stories," Mr Schellbach said. NAB's director of SMSF and investor behaviour, Gemma Dale, said market watchers were looking for earnings growth to catch up to share prices. While Ms Dale believed "tariffs are going to have a huge impact on analysts' reporting and how they're thinking about the outlook for a number of companies", portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu argued the impact of US tariffs would not be so significant for most firms. "The overall impact on Australian corporates isn't that large, however there's a couple of select companies that will get impacted directly," Ms Lui, the co-founder of investment management company Ten Cap, said. "For example, a company like Ansell, or a company like Breville, where they do manufacture those products in tariff-affected countries." Analysts have forecast cost-of-living pressures and the surprise rate hold in July to have dampened sentiment, particularly for companies exposed to household spending. "The consumer space is on the backfoot, healthcare [companies] are in a tough space, and even the earnings growth from the financials has been relatively sluggish," said Mr Schellbach. 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"The performance has been so extreme between the two sectors where banks have gone up quite significantly whereas the resources have collapsed, partly because of the tariff impact and partly China's growth has been somewhat disappointing." But this reporting season would see results softening for the banking sector, according to Ms Liu. "We see a bit of margin pressure, we see the revenues a little bit disappointing, and also, what's most important, the capital return from the banks will be less than what it used to be. Despite the uncertainties facing corporate Australia, and companies globally, the outlook for the financial year ahead has been forecast as more optimistic. "What the retailers will point to is … the expectation of further interest rate cuts should buoy their activity levels," said UBS's Mr Schellbach. Ms Liu said she expects more money to come back into the Australian share market in the year ahead, with investors feeling increasingly confident. "This will be an interesting reporting season because it's likely to be the bottom of the Australian economic activity, probably one of the last bad results, if you like, because looking forward, things should get better," she told The Business.


West Australian
42 minutes ago
- West Australian
Dynamic and MinRes tweak WA lithium joint venture deal
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News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Break it Down: Firetail bags $5m to fire up its gold and copper hunt
Stockhead's Break it Down brings you today's leading market news in under 90 seconds. In this episode, host Tylah Tully unpacks the latest from Firetail Resources (ASX:FTL), which has raised $5 million in a strategic placement to advance its copper and gold portfolio. Watch the video to learn more. While Firetail Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this content. Originally published as Break it Down: Firetail bags $5m to fire up its gold and copper hunt