SkyCity shares drop on profit warning

Highrollers left SkyCity's Auckland casino without paying debts of $2.4m. Photo / NZ Herald

Sky City Entertainment's share price dropped by 3.1 per cent in morning trade after the company said its "normalised" net profit would fall in the first half, due mostly to the New Zealand dollar's appreciation against the Australian dollar.

By late morning, the stock was trading at $3.77, down 12c from Monday's close.

The Australasian casino owner-operator said its normalised net profit for the six months to December 31 was expected to be in a range of $65 million to $68m, compared to $72m in the previous first half period.

The prior period profit figure excluded proceeds from the Christchurch casino, which was sold last year.

"The result in this half year has been adversely impacted by the significant currency appreciation of the NZ dollar against the Australian dollar - up 18 per cent from A78c to A92c," Sky City said.

The company said the stronger currency was expected to take $3 million off the bottom line.

Sky City shares closed on Monday at $3.89, having gained 7.46 per cent over the last year.

The New Zealand dollar touched a fresh five-year high against the Aussie overnight as the fortunes of the two economies continued to diverge.

The kiwi rose as high as A92.57c cents in local trading last night, and was at A92.14c at 8am in Wellington, BusinessDesk reported.