No more of this in Auckland at SkyCity today. Photo / Peter Meecham
No more of this in Auckland at SkyCity today. Photo / Peter Meecham
Auckland-headquartered SkyCity Entertainment Group is shutting its Auckland casino but also extending anti-Covid measures to Hamilton and Queenstown.
"SkyCity Entertainment Group advises that, from this morning, it will be closing its Auckland casino and entertainment facilities and implementing physical distancing and hygiene requirements at its Hamilton and Queenstown properties," ittold the NZX.
"SkyCity's Auckland hotels will remain open to accommodate existing guests, pending further advice from the Government. Appropriate physical distancing and hygiene requirements will also be implemented at the Auckland hotels," it said.
All was in response to last night's Government announcement after four new cases of Covid-19 in Auckland likely involving community transmission.
All measures will be in place from noon today until midnight on Friday.
Graeme Stephens, chief executive, said SkyCity is well prepared for the lockdown changes and is in a strong financial position to withstand the financial impacts. Its Adelaide casino is unaffected and remains open with physical distancing and hygiene requirements already in place, it said.
The Auckland closure is bad news for the business because the city generates more revenue for the company than other properties.
Shares in the company were yesterday trading around $2.52 on the NZX.
Last night's announcement comes just as SkyCity prepares to unveil changes to its VIP gaming areas at its Auckland property.
For more than a year, the business has been renovating the area near the intersection of Victoria St and Hobson St.
However, construction work is continuing at SkyCity's $703m NZ International Convention Centre.
Peter Reidy, chief executive of head contractor Fletcher Construction saidall Auckland sites for his company remained live but with new social distancing measures in place.
Yesterday, Fletcher Building chief executive Ross Taylor revealed that Fletcher Construction had $100m worth of work to complete at the NZICC, on top of repairs from the October fire.
Taylor said the NZICC job was split into two parts: the fire repairs, and the $100m finishing work. He was being asked by an analyst to give an update on that big job.
Taylor also emphasised that new Fletcher Construction contracts are being won for work that has higher margins and lower risk than jobs the business had won previously and where it has lost substantial amounts of money.
Fletcher had reduced its overall cost base by $300m. It had closed some supply chain and manufacturing plants, cut office space and removed some unprofitable product lines, the business announced yesterday.
Taylor said this was productivity losses, "how you deal with the subcontractors", versus what was able to be claimed, ongoing issues with borders being closed "and we have challenges getting core skills across the border, particularly when it's highly technical".
In May Fletcher announced it would be letting go 1500 people, including 1000 in New Zealand, because of the drop in demand.
That created a situation of "frenzy" whereby more had to be paid to key people to hold onto them, he said, "and the net effect is what you estimated on production rates. It's what it's costing you when you get through the contracts", Taylor said yesterday.
Pre-Covid, Fletcher intended to sell Australian concrete pipe business Rocla and Fletcher Building chief financial officer Began McKenzie said that process was currently "live".
Fletcher announced an impairment of $59m on Rocla and Taylor mentioned two factories that had been shut in Australia and the prospect of those being redeveloped.
