The Star mulls new liquidity proposals but confirms it may miss profit reporting deadline

Business News Australia
02-28

A rescue package could be near for The Star Entertainment Group (ASX: SGR) after the casino operator announced that it expects to receive “one or more liquidity proposals” today.

But the company has all but confirmed that its shares are likely to be automatically suspended from trading on the ASX from Monday as the company is expected to miss today’s deadline to lodge its FY25 half-year earnings report.

The Star gave some hope to shareholders last week after announcing that it had received a $650 million debt refinancing proposal from funds associated with Oaktree Capital Management.

It’s unclear whether this proposal is among the liquidity options the company was referring to in today’s announcement.

Either way, The Star says it is unable to post its half-year results until it has had time to consider any refinancing or recapitalisation proposals that have been put forward.

Under ASX listing rules, companies that haven’t lodged their interim financial reports by the end of February are automatically suspended from trading.

“It is likely that the 1HFY25 report will only be able to be finalised if the company has received liquidity proposals which, after appropriate consideration by the directors, are sufficiently capable of being progressed to finalisation in the context of determining whether the company can continue as a going concern,” says The Star in an ASX announcement today.

“Shareholders should note that if the 1HFY25 report is not lodged later today as required by the ASX listing rules, then the company's shares will be automatically suspended from trading from Monday, 3 March 2025.

“Such a suspension would continue until the 1HFY25 report is lodged and the ASX determines that the company's shares should be reinstated to quotation.”

The statement today confirms that without an acceptable liquidity solution, The Star is unable to comply with ASX listing rules.

In the most recent update on the company’s financial performance, The Star announced on 20 January that the group had available cash of $78 million at the end of December.

A massive cost-cutting program by the group and revenue growth recorded at The Star Gold Coast helped stabilise earnings over the last two months of 2024.

However, overall revenue in the second quarter of FY25 fell 15 per cent to $299 million compared with the first quarter of this financial year, delivering an EBITDA loss of $8 million for the period, excluding significant items. The EBITDA loss is down from an $18 million deficit in the first three months of FY25.

To stem the losses, The Star announced in September it was implementing a cost-cutting program to be completed by March, targeting at least $100 million in annual savings a year.

The $650 million lifeline thrown to The Star by Oaktree last week could give the group five years of breathing space to get its business back on track. However, the company has offered no indication of whether it is progressing with the debt agreement which is subject to government approvals and due diligence,.

Oaktree is willing to provide The Star with a total of $650 million in two debt facilities over a five-year term. The total of the debt facility is more than three times the highly conditional $200 million facility provided by lenders in October last year.

While The Star has drawn down the first $100 million tranche of the existing facility, it has failed to meet the conditions for the second $100 million tranche which has placed the group’s finances in a precarious position.

Shares in The Star were trading almost 14 per cent lower at 11.2c at 11.34am (AEDT), which capitalises the group at $321 million.

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