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Crown Drops on Junket Operators' Reported Links to Triad Gangs

Crown Drops on Junket Operators' Reported Links to Triad Gangs

(Bloomberg) -- Crown Resorts Ltd. shares fell the most in two months after local media reported the company used junket operators linked to an Asian crime syndicate that allegedly laundered money in the gaming firm’s casinos.

  • Shares dropped as much as 3.7% in early Sydney trading and were down 1.2% at 10:40 a.m. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.4%
  • Crown said in a statement responding to the report it had a comprehensive anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing program in place, that was subject to regulatory supervision by the financial crimes agency Austrac
  • The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and the 60 Minutes television program reported at the weekend that an Asian organized crime syndicate used Crown-linked bank accounts and high-roller rooms to launder funds. The report cited law enforcement officials that it didn’t identify
  • Link to report: Crown casino's links to Asian organised crime exposed
  • Austrac had no immediate comment on the report, while the gaming authority in Victoria state, where Crown operates a casino in Melbourne, said it was working on a statement. Liquor & Gaming NSW said the state government in New South Wales, where Crown is building a Sydney gaming resort, “has comprehensive controls in place to regulate casinos including the operation of junkets.”

Market Metrics

  • One-month implied volatility was 21%.

Market Insights

  • Stock declined 8.9% in the past 52 weeks vs S&P/ASX 200 gain of 8.3%
  • Crown Resorts trades at 23 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year
  • Dividend yield is 6.1% on a trailing 12-month basis and 4.8% based on Bloomberg Dividend Forecasts for the next 12 months
  • The analyst consensus one-year price target for the company is A$12.74, for a potential return of 2%

--With assistance from Tim Smith and Ainslie Chandler.

To contact the reporters on this story: Angus Whitley in Sydney at awhitley1@bloomberg.net;Edward Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net

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