Crown’s VIP turnover tumbles 45% following China arrests

Australian casino operator Crown Resorts saw its VIP gambling turnover fall by nearly half in the first half of its fiscal year following the arrest in China of its VIP marketing team.

Figures released Thursday show normalized revenue – which smooths out the occasionally wild variations in VIP win rate – at Crown’s domestic resorts falling 12.5% to A$1.48b (US $1.14b) in the six months ending December 31, 2016.

While Crown’s main floor gaming revenue was down less than 1% to A$854m, VIP revenue was down 45.3%. Crown Melbourne bore the brunt of the VIP decline, falling 47.4% to A$191m, while Crown Perth was off a comparatively mild 38.6% to A$72.5m. In fact, the only casino to post a revenue gain was the Crown Aspinalls in London, which was up 26% to A$62.2m.

Crown’s VIP woes mirror that of Aussie rival The Star, which reported double-digit turnover declines last week. Australian casinos are on China’s shitlist ever since 18 Crown staffers were arrested last year on charges of promoting illegal gambling activity to mainland high rollers.