SkyCity has concluded the sale of its office building located at 99 Albert Street and the adjacent properties on Victoria Street in Auckland as part of its efforts to bolster its financial position and cut down on debt.
New Zealand-listed SkyCity announced on 1 September that the NZ$74.5m (€37.9m) deal has completed. The properties have been purchased by the Christchurch-based property management firm Mainland Capital as part of a scheme with Russell Property Group.
The agreement is part of a larger programme to generate cash for SkyCity. This programme was launched as part of an NZ$240m capital project that took place last year, through which the company plans to attract NZ$275m–NZ$300m by December 2026 to finance its ongoing operations.
CEO Jason Walbridge said:
In FY26, we implemented carded play across our New Zealand casinos, opened the NZICC, advanced our asset monetisation, exceeded our cost-out targets, continued preparing for the regulated New Zealand online gambling market, and settled in principle the outstanding major regulatory issues in Adelaide.
The sale of the properties comes after what turned out to be another disappointing year of operations for SkyCity. While the company saw its revenues remain stable at NZ$822.7m, its EBITDA was at NZ$181.6m, down 22.3%. Its net income dropped to NZ$38m, which represents a 46.9% decline compared to last year.
Walbridge said:
We are becoming a simpler, smarter, and more connected business, actioning further savings to deliver annualised benefits of NZ$30m in FY27 and growing to total benefits of NZ$70m in FY28. This is a strategic response to our evolving operating environment and the future direction of our business, including the regulation of online gambling.
SkyCity has not yet made any predictions for FY27 but plans to give an update on its trading operations in October.
