Star Entertainment Group slides to $199m annual loss

Australia's second-biggest casino operator on Monday said it has slashed the value of goodwill for the Star Sydney property by $162.5 million "due to regulatory and other uncertainties".

The troubled company is awaiting the outcome of a review into its suitability to hold a NSW casino licence as well as an investigation from the financial crimes regulator after an inquiry heard allegations it enabled suspected money laundering, organised crime, fraud and foreign interference at its Sydney casino.

It faces a separate probe in Queensland.

Star said normalised net loss, excluding the significant items, was $32 million while revenue for the year to June 30 dipped 1.2 per cent to $1.53 billion.

Interim Chairman Ben Heap said the underlying strength of the business had enabled a strong rebound, but acknowledged that "COVID-19 related disruptions and regulatory reviews have presented significant challenges" for the company.

Earnings at its main Sydney casino were significantly impacted by the closure of the property for 102 days due to operating restrictions due to the pandemic. 

Star is also facing competition after bigger rival Crown opened the doors of its Sydney casino earlier this month after receiving the green light from the NSW regulator.

Star said earnings remained strong at its Gold Coast and Brisbane properties, which saw a much more limited impact of COVID-related restrictions.

The group says it is seeing the positive revenue trends from the fourth quarter of FY22 continuing into the current financial year.

It said domestic revenue for the period from July 1 to August 18 is up 9 per cent on the comparative pre-Covid period of 2019, largely thanks to a 26 per cent recovery in the Gold Coast's domestic revenue.

Domestic revenue at the Star Sydney is in-line with pre-COVID levels.

Star will not pay any dividend for the FY22 year.