SkyCity CEO to step down
The CEO of SkyCity Adelaide’s parent company will leave his role early next year, as the company awaits the results of a federal money-laundering probe into its South Australian casino.
Photo: Liam Jenkins.
New Zealand-based SkyCity CEO Michael Ahearne will resign at the end of March 2024 and return to Europe with his family.
Announced to shareholders this morning, SkyCity said it had begun the recruitment process for Ahearne’s replacement, who will lead the casino company which is under the microscope of two inquiries into its Adelaide business.
Ahearne joined SkyCity in 2017 as chief operating officer and was appointed CEO in November 2020.
“Michael has led the business through a very complex and demanding period,” SkyCity chair Julian Cook said.
“This has included dealing with the significant fire at the New Zealand International Convention Centre and rebuild, navigating the business through COVID-19 and the recovery, and responding to regulatory matters relating to the SkyCity Adelaide business.
“Michael has worked hard to set a strong platform for the business going forward and has been tireless in seeking to do the right thing for SkyCity.”
SkyCity Adelaide is the subject of two inquiries.
The first is from Australia’s financial crimes watchdog AUSTRAC which in December 2022 alleged SkyCity Adelaide engaged in “serious and systemic” non-compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
This includes allegations that the casino made $74 million from “high-risk” customers who had reported links to organised crime, and that some gamblers at the casino used “cash that appeared to have been buried”.
In August, SkyCity announced it would put $45 million aside to cover potential penalties from the federal inquiry and a further $45.6 million was recognised as an impairment on the casino licence following a review of the property.
This move led to SkyCity’s full year profits being weighed down to just $7.4 million in FY23. Were it not for the one-off costs, the group would have recorded a $127 million profit in that period.
The second inquiry is from the South Australian government which is determining whether SkyCity Adelaide is fit to hold a casino licence. That probe is currently “on hold” while AUSTRAC’s Federal Court action is ongoing.
Shares in SkyCity are down 2.69 per cent in early trade today to $1.81 per share.
