Star Entertainment’s Q1 Results Show Key Improvements

Australian casino and hospitality company The Star Entertainment Group (The Star) has published its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year (the three-month period ended September 30, 2026). The report highlighted a noticeable increase in EBITDA, with the company remaining optimistic about the potential of its properties. The Star Sydney and The Star Gold Coast Experienced Stronger Revenues The Q1 2027 figures highlighted revenue of AUD 284 million ($199.6 million), up 2% year-on-year. The figure also shows a quarter-on-quarter increase of 8%. The company’s group EBITDA stood at AUD 12 million ($8.4 million), which represented an increase of a staggering 191% year-on-year and 228% quarter-on-quarter. For comparison, the company reported EBITDA losses of AUD 13 million for Q1 2026 and AUD 9 million for Q4 2026. The Star Sydney and The Star Gold Coast properties both highlighted revenue improvements, which were a first since The Star commenced publishing its quarterly reports in September 2024. For context, the former property reported AUD 162 million ($113.8 million) in revenue (up 1% year-on-year) and AUD 15 million ($10.5 million) in EBITDA for the first quarter of FY 2027. The Star Gold Coast, on the other hand, reported revenue of AUD 117 million ($82.2 million) and EBITDA of AUD 20 million ($13.1 million). These figures represented improvements of 12% and 92%, respectively. Additional Q1 FY 2027 highlights included AUD 23 million ($16.2 million) in unallocated corporate costs, and AUD 37 million ($26 million) in EBITDAM from The Star Brisbane. The latter figure marked a new record, highlighting the property’s continued growth. Since Q1 FY 2027 resulted in positive operating free cash flow, The Star noted that it expects FY 2027 to be the first time the company will generate net annual operating cash inflows, before one-off items, in more than two years. The Company’s Casino Licenses Remain Suspended As of September 30, 2026, The Star had AUD 239 million ($167.9 million) in cash and cash equivalents. The company added that it maintains sufficient liquidity and continues to improve operations. Despite that, The Star admitted that its business improvements depend on the number of uncertainties. The company added that it will provide an update on matters which may impact The Star’s business in its H1 2027 report. Speaking of uncertainty, The Star Sydney’s casino license remains suspended. The deferral of the suspension of The Star Gold Coast’s casino license, on the other hand, extends until March 31, 2027. The company also provided an update on its remediation plan, saying that Q1 has seen it push many critical, customer-facing functions to its properties and make improvements to its workplace culture. At the same time, the company remains on the lookout for further cost-reducing opportunities. In other news, The Star was just hit with an AUD 260 million penalty for systemic AML failings between 2016 and 2022.