High rollers hurt Burswood’s balance sheet

BURSWOOD International Resort Casino has announced an after tax $11.1 million operating profit for the 2002-03 year from $333.2 million.

This is down from the 2001-02 operating profit of $20.6 million from total revenue of $363.3 million.

Burswood managing director John Schaap said the disappointing result was primarily due to a very low win percentage of 0.89 per cent on international commission business, compared with its expected win percentage of 1.35 per cent.

He said the financial year was also characterised by unprecedented tourism challenges such as SARS and the Iraq war.

Macmahon Holdings Ltd has announced an after tax $8.5 million operating profit for the 2002-3 year, an increase of 20 per cent from the 2001-02 financial year.

The company’s CEO Nick Bowen said its outlook was good.

He said one of its major projects, the Alice Springs to Darwin Railway, was targeted for completion in October, five months earlier than scheduled and growth in Macmahon’s civil division was expected to be high.

Schaffer Corporation Ltd has achieved a record net profit after tax of $17 million for the 2002-3 year, an increase of 31 per cent over last year’s comparable result of $13 million. 

Earning per share increased to 1.25 per share, 22 per cent higher than in 2002 and the directors have declared a final fully franked dividend of 50 cents per share taking the total fully franked dividend for the year to $1 per share.

Australian Leather Holdings automotive division was the reason for Schaffer Corporation’s increased earnings and profitability.

Efficiency improvements accounted for a large proportion of the division’s earnings growth.

Perth Airport operator Westralia Airports Corporation has achieved a 26.8 per cent increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amor-tisation for the year ending June 2003.

The $59.1 million result was achieved on revenue growth of 23.5 per cent to $94 million.

WAC CEO Graham Muir said the EBITDA growth was achieved despite a significant increase in insurance and security related expenses, and the impact of SARS on the June quarter revenues.

 “WAC completed a successful capital restructure in March 2003 reinstating its investment grade credit and is well positioned for a period of strong returns to shareholders,” he said.

Coventry Group Limited achieved a net profit after tax of $10.8 million for the year 2002-3. This was a $6.3 million improvement over the $4.5 million reported for the prior comparative period.

The improvement in business performance was the result of strong growth in the industrial and automotive businesses combined with a reduced loss from the Coventry Auto Parts business.

Fleetwood Corporation Limited has achieved an operating profit after tax of $11.2 million dollars, an increase of 48 per cent from the previous financial year.

Continued growth in caravan sales, increased activity in the resources sector and the benefits of the Windsor and Car-Van acquisitions are all factors expected to support its earnings growth in the current year,

A fully franked final dividend of 8.5 cents per share will be paid, giving shareholders fully franked dividends for the year of 14 cents, compared to 13 cents last year.