You normally come off 2nd best against fire and brimstone. Lol
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My father always used to call them that. Even their buffet at Fortuna is no good for you and encourages gluttony. SKC also have been rorting customers with big increases in their car parking fees in recent years to such an extent that they sold off their car parks for a whopping $220m. It is Karma for both them and FBU.
The QC lawyers representing both companies are likely to engage in a titanic battle over who pays for the extra years of delay's with the construction and must be rubbing their hands with glee with the prospect of millions more in lawyers fees.
My bathroom scales unfortunately are testament that I am a recidivist sinner at Fortuna. Mrs Beagle also very naughty :lol:
I avoid the rest of the place though. I am safe for a while though https://skycityauckland.co.nz/restau...et-restaurant/
LOL Yes, guilty as charged :blush: Where else can you get an entrée, main, desert, coffee and cheeseboard and as many repeats of courses as you like for as little as $24.95 for lunch Monday to Thursday ? Of course they get you in the carpark for a minimum of about $11 so its not really $24.95...
It s even more if you do not get your card validated by them - that is been into the casino and actually eaten or gambled or to one of the eating establishments.
Back when the complex opened, use to park the car all day for $5 when working in the CBD.
$52 to park for one day in uncovered parking at Auckland airport is outrageous. $11 for 2 hours parking in Auckland central isn't unusual.
Sign of a very sick culture within the company https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/natio...cid=spartandhp
SkyCity fire: Insurance cover may be refused if 'recklessness' proved
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12279333
The insurance companies most senior loss adjusters will all over this with a super fine tooth comb.
Insurance company payout is far from certain.
LOL might be a little bit toxic https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/natio...cid=spartandhp
Shareholders too should demand answers: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU191...s-from-ceo.htm
These staff are the opposite to those in the movie Hotel Mumbai. Like they want to be the first ones out the building
My two gambling stocks - TAH and SKC have generally been disappointing. Dividends are fine however just no share price appreciation. My Devon Alpha fund features Aristocrat, excellent choice and going really well.
Good to see that SkyCity went online with their pokie app - I blew a $100 for research purposes. It worked really well. I then "excluded" myself. As "investors" (ie gamblers) we've all got a love of risk so no need to tempt fate :)
Beagle, are you suggesting they may not complying with the law? What do you base that on if that's the case? I'd be surprised inf Sky isn't aware of it obligations.
Unions under this grubby u-turn government are on the resurgent and anything they can blow out of proportions, they will.
A few staff out of a few hundreds felt ill from smelling the smoke and therefore all staff should have had several days off?
Let OSH investigate and if indeed Sky has been negligent and irresponsible, fine the company several million dollars to teach them a lesson. But until then, it's simply union tactics.
Much as I dislike the politics of NZF and Winston, they are the only reason why the unions have not got everything this grubby government has been wanting to give them.
I am curious Balance. Would you be happy to go and work 5 daily shifts a week at the Casino at present, week in week out for the next 6 months breathing in all that fresh "high quality" air ?
Residues and breathable particulates might not be at a level to be the cause of choric ill heath but how does anyone know if long hours of exposure to moderate level's of these toxins isn't going to cause long term health effects ? Work safe haven't signed off on conditions yet. https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/natio...cid=spartandhp
A den of iniquity now contaminated with toxin's and with management treating staff like a disposable commodity. What a marvellous corporate citizen...
An expert has signed off and it's now up to Worksafe to determine otherwise. What is Sky City supposed to do - ignore the expert's findings?
"...... a workplace hygiene expert called in to assess SkyCity's Auckland buildings says there were no major issues with air quality in the precincts' buildings during the week of the fire."
"He said there were no reports of acute ill health reported to his team during the clean up or after the buildings were reopened. WorkSafe said it has not signed off or approved of working conditions at the SkyCity precinct, and it is SkyCity's responsibility to ensure it was providing a safe workplace."
There are no doubts those who are susceptible to low levels of contaminants and pollutants in the air - like I know friends who are allergic to cigarette smoke - gives them headaches and nausea.
Fair enough that they take sick leave or if it is indeed such an ongoing issue, they need to leave employment with Sky City and employment anywhere near that area. Health comes first.
But to suggest that all staff must go on leave as the union is pushing????
BTW - there's a lot of employment options out there at present with employers having to import 235,000 workers on temporary work visas. I do wonder what the union representing Sky City workers are doing to further the welfare of the 'poor' workers as in skill upgrades, retraining etc - to get the poor souls out of working for the 'den of iniquity'! :confused:
"The preliminary report by occupational hygienist Derek Miller - released by SkyCity today - found respirable particulates and volatile organic compounds did not reach a level that would be of chronic concern to health". Emphasis added. WOW that's so "reassuring", NOT !! I find the use of the word chronic very interesting. Below that would be serious concern to health, moderately serious, moderate, reasonably minor and minor.
Prolonged exposure to air quality that has for example moderately serious level's of toxin's cannot be good for people's long term health even if their immune system can cope with the immediate effects.
Just because one expert signs off on something its completely safe ? That's really reassuring. Remember how the expert auditors of all those finance companies told us their financial statements were a true and accurate reflection of the companies state of financial affairs....yeah...how did those expert opinions work out for people during the GFC !
How much was this guy paid to prepare this report to give SKC the answer they wanted ? How many reports did they commission before getting one they liked ? (Ouch that's pretty cynical eh) Big companies never do that surely not...or do they ? Was there any independent verification of the testing ?
I think the appalling way staff were treated during this emergency, (as previously articulated in links to press articles in this thread), is quite a worrying indicator of SKC's propensity towards disposable commoditisation of workers. Calling it as I see it. I think their culture is sick and I think staff should be extremely concerned for their long term welfare working there.
I'm staying well clear of the place for the foreseeable future.
So what are experts for?
Might as well disregard all expert opinions out there then if the reference point of all expert opinions is that of the dodgy ones out there!
Remember the experts' testing of 'P' contaminated houses and how it was such a huge gigantic problem? And it turned out that everybody was taken for a multi-mega-million dollar ride by the experts and their testers? Guess on that basis we should ignore ALL drug testing expert opinions.
You are right however to be cynical of expert opinions - just as I am cynical of anything that unions do.
I have actually worked with unions in the manufacturing industry - making mountains out of molehills is what they are very good at, especially to justify their existence.
Workers' welfare? Pike River tragedy (and Andrew Little's role) gives you the best example of how much union bosses really care about the welfare of workers.
As I wrote, 235,000 migrant workers here on temporary work visas - what and how are the unions doing for their members like the poor souls in Sky City so the poor exploited souls, having to work in unsafe degrading conditions, can seek alternative and life rewarding employment? Answer - zilch, nothing, zero.
From an interview I heard on the radio a few days ago with the Union person, he went off on a tangent about wanting to get weekends back for their workers - this just before the long weekend and you could take out from what he said that was the real issue and not the air quality -kept referencing getting weekends back.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/natio...cid=spartandhp I'm not the only one that doesn't trust this so called expert "preliminary" report. About 40 people reporting "immediate" health effects from the toxic contamination. How many more might be just coping but will suffer long term health effects ?
From an ESG perspective this incident is an absolute shocker.
The union is of course busy shxt-stirring.
There is actually proper due process (proper medical examinations, grievances complaints to the company, complaints to OSH if company does not respond etc) but the union is taking the opportunity with the opportunistic 'workers' to protest before due process?
Yawn - clear that every worker there who had a cold or cough are now lining up - wanting days off and compensation.
What is the union doing about helping these poor souls (if genuine) find alternative employment so they do not need to 'suffer' anymore working under such 'distressing' conditions?:t_down:
The union must be taking lessons from Andrew Little of Pike River fame?
At the risk of stating the completely obvious, its not the unions job to find workers alternative employment...that's actually SKC's job if people are unwell and cannot stand the new toxic environment.
SKC if they were a good corporate citizen should be providing medical assistance and assistance with transition to other work.
The unions job is to protect workers rights including ensuring their OSH rights are not being abused.
Fainting and dizziness brought on by toxicity is pretty serious stuff. Must people get cancer or die before you would accept that something very untoward is going on ?
How much was their so called expert paid to prepare the preliminary report that SKC wanted ? Why are the union not being consulted with in terms of the hard data on toxicity ?
Could it be that SKC really don't give a **** about the occupational safety and health of their workers ?
Rather strange and telling you are so very eager, ready and willing to accept the words of the union and the agitators?
Due process - why is the union not following due process?
Every sympathy and assistance should be rendered to any worker genuinely affected but the union is more pre-occupied with grandstanding - why?
Enuf said about how much then they really care about their ‘workers’!
I don't have any agenda here Balance. I don't own SKC shares and I am not short them either. I just think they've been a very poor example of an employer and that deserves some oxygen. We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
Firefighters union now backing SKC employees after independent testing shows employees exposed to 3 years worth of cancer causing toxin's
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other...cid=spartandhp
SKC in complete denial. I'm not sure how the board sleep at night...
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/117...ckland-council
Relax, Beagle - I know you have sincere deep concerns for the welfare of the casino workers so here's good news :
Only those directly breathing in the plume were exposed and not one single casino worker was.
"This only occurred inside the smoke plume, and when public alerts were in place advising people to avoid exposure to the smoke," the council said in a statement."
Unless of course they were having a nosey and taking a smoko break in the plume - which will not surprise me!
"Those experts said the spike in particulate levels in Queen St air – to more than five times national air quality standards – could increase the risk of stroke, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease".
You're right Balance, nothing to worry about whatsoever.
I did sin this week and having promised to avoid the place for ages Mrs Beagle took me to Fortuna as it was some dog's birthday and my goodness, how much do I like a good feed :D... so much so that I was prepared to back my own nose for sniffing out trouble. I had my hound sniffer turned right up to maximum sensitivity for even the remotest smell of toxin's or residual fumes and I would have been out of there quicker than a Bishop in a brothel raid if I had of smelt even the faintest trace of anything untoward. I noted new carpet and not even the faintest hint of any funny smell. Even the smoked fish tasted like it had been smoked the normal way, (Mrs B thought I was pretty game to try that lol).
Pleased I wasn't around in town to do any air quality sniffing at the time of the fire. Fortuna looks directly out onto the convention centre. I didn't spot even one tradesman working there, (scores of them last time we were there). Not sure how long it will take them to get go forward with that project again but I would think the fire is best described as a major setback.
About time....
Announcement should be these days, right?
Getting priced accordingly for yield and potential growth prospects (even though they have to be demolished and rebuilt)
Ooch opening a few years away
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-z...3+January+2020
A 10% drop in share price from the recent highs of $4.10 odd to $3.70 in just a couple of weeks! Maybe with this Corona thing, fewer high rollers from China will be coming down to Sky City Auckland? Although with 'abnormal' losses from this side of the business still in my memory, I would have expected the SKC share price to go up on this news!
SNOOPY
discl: holder
star , crown and skc all down from 7 - 11% last 2 weeks so directly related to corona
Have a look at the prices of the Macau companies listed in HK.
The only one I hold is down about 20% in the last month as Macau has closed its border with China cutting off the bulk of the SAR's customers.
Macau casino revenue drops 11.3% in January as coronavirus worries mount
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/01/maca...ies-mount.html
I have a love hate relationship with tourism shares. I was an Air New Zealand shareholder until before it was bailed out by the government and I lost big time (about 80% of my investment IIRC). I think that was about the time I read about Warren Buffett having set himself up a hotline to ring whenever he thought about investing in airline shares. Airline shares often look attractive on conventional sharemarket metrics. But the ease with which competition can be set up, the high capital cost of the equipment and volatile fuel prices spiking running costs generally erodes any competitive advantage for potential investors quite quickly.
OTOH Auckland Airport, which sadly has always seemed too expensive to me to invest in, and the likes of Sky City Casino in Auckland (and Adelaide) are natural monopolies. They aren't totally dependent on international travellers. In fact there is some anecdotal evidence that kiwis spends more time at the casino when times are difficult. I believe the recent fall in the Sky City share price is likely justified in the short to medium term. But even if international tourism stopped this wouldn't be the end for Sky City Not all of those Chinese faces you see at Sky City Auckland are tourists!
SNOOPY
discl. Happy to hold SKC through this downturn
Thanks Snoopy about your sensible thoughts on SKC.
But not only I am holding I will be acquiring more of it now as it has been really a while since I last bought them.
disc: long term holder of SKC as I considered this stock boring since getting enough of them
I bought in to SKC in the later months of last year.. Can't quite decide whether to grab a few more now to average down or wait to the update in 10 days time...
My head says wait... My Sagittarius side isn't very patient!
skc will take a hit from less punters at casino as well as less tourists in there hotels , wise person wouild wait to skc put out an update in time on how there profits been impacted.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/coro...t-updates.html
Not good for skycity. I asked my Chinese tenantwho has family members near Wuhan about the current situation. I wondered it is really bad in China now as the news reported? He said..worse....
Closing down the casinos in Macau for two weeks is good for Sky City isn't it? Less competition! Unless you are suggesting the bureaucratic contagion will spread to such an extent that security guards will be stationed outside Sky City Auckland refusing entry to 'Chinese looking people'?
SNOOPY
And I asked my Australian friend (in Shanghai) who is the GM of a major hotel chain in China and he said it is bad as there has been so much disruption to the management and operation of their hotels - staff quarantined, travelers cancellations, supply lines of products and services disrupted and high anxiety amongst staff. But he said that life continues and since Monday, life has been returning to Shanghai and other main cities.
No travelers coming in from mainland China so biggest impact will be felt in the high roller area of Sky City. Then, there's the accommodation side of the operation.
Sky City is definitely one which is being hit and will continue to be impacted - likewise AIA, THL, MCK and QEX.
Not easy to see through all the ‘normalisation’ in the Sky City reports
Maybe aim is to bambozzle everybody with science
http://nzx-prod-s7fsd7f98s.s3-websit...343/316639.pdf
IB business down 40% probably be down even more next results as virus impacts travel in the current period , also affect hotel bookings going forward too
Absolute joke having reported and normalised, just exited the presentation after reading that. Be upfront with your business financials.
There is a good reason for having normalised and reported and having both results with a reasonable explanation of them just gives you more information to understand the business. They don't seem to be trying to hide anything? The normalised results are much worse than the reported....
Companies on the NZX do have to report to set formats - but as per usual, the set formats end up creating confusion, hence the normalized results.
In the good old days, companies were free to use their 'judgement' to present as they saw fit - so the likes of Fay Richwhites had a field day changing their accounting policies one period to the next as it suited them.
So what are the pertinent points about the normalized results?
EBITDA down 10.7%, NPAT down 16.4% and EPS down 15%.
Forecast FY2020 normalized NPAT of $130m vs $173m FY2019 - down 25%, so company expecting a massive 34% drop in 2H NPAT.
I think SKC
SCAM or ERROR?
People, this is not quite the usual forum for such a post but I would like some local educated opinion on my recent experience.. dined at one of Sky City’s flagship restaurants on Sunday night. $240 bill seemed a bit steep given what we had ordered. Checked the math, as is my habit - and it only added up to $180..
Expressed my puzzlement to front of house staff who (too) quickly apologised and said it was the waiter’s error and that he had put “meal 2” (??) in by mistake. I said “ok but it looks like your machine doesn’t add up the amounts correctly... that must be programmed in deliberately...??” and so they quickly took some wine off the bill as well..
To be clear, this wasn’t adding in an extra bottle of wine. It was purposeful mis-adding. So, wise and savvy investor peoples, has anything like this happened to you? Is it a scam? A way to boost profits?? Or is the error explicable?
answers please...
Haven't had this happen to me.. But haven't dined in those restaurants either..
If you still have a copy of the bill I would forward a copy of it to the commerce commission and also a copy to the CEO of SKC.
Good on you for checking the bill... It's a great reminder to all of us to do the same!
Just to be clear--The initial $240 bill had the same food and quantity you ordered? -if yes then it could be a totaling mistake by the machine and is not human error...
Skycity uses or used to (not sure now)one of the top of the line billing systems which is used in restaurants and hotels all over the world(micros-fidelio)...My wildest guess would be a programming error..I doubt Skycity would do it deliberately.
Buy today and take the div. Strong cashflows will see this business through the corona downturn.
First bought SKC for 3.25 in 2009. Now it is nearly back there. Starting to look a little tempting. Company never seems to achieve very much, but they should be recession-proof if that is where we are heading.
If you've been a follower or better still a long time holder of this stock, it normally goes down by the dividend amount on the day after it goes ex-div date. Which is a normal thing for a stock to do and the timing you need if you need to accumulate at a lower price. But SKC is no longer a growth stock so it acts as just boring dividend paying company now. Its going down terribly today could be just the realization that it may not hover back to its safe price range of 390-410 of old. And Sars Cov 2 scare effect is affecting it too.
Thank you, I have been a holder for over 6 years and joined 2 years ago to the DRP. The idea was originally to hold a monopoly long term, after Nigel left I started to consider selling but then I thought better to wait and see how the conventions centre goes.
You are right about the ex-div date I just forgot the date. Now is at a price that I haven't seen before.
Was the bill printed on a roll printer. Did you watch it being printed or was it brought to the table. Was there page header stuff printed on the top of the bill you were presented with?
An old fiddle is to enter an item you have not ordered at the top of the bill and then trim the bill below that item. Most people will check to see if there is a stray item but won't add the items to check the total. Any time this is detected they will offer profuse apologies and correction but that doesn't happen often.
Time for SKC security to do some investigating to reassure themselves all is well.
Boop boop de do
Marilyn
some countries are making casinos close , a risk to be aware off.
They are going to take a pretty big hit over the next months anyway. Probably best that the convention center hasn't opened. I guess they are in a position to weather the storm, they have been wasting enough shareholder's money on share buy-backs. Is on my shopping list for when there is some actual certainty.
SKC are not in a good position, but they are in a relatively good position. Some people see SKC as a 'tourism' business. For sure tourism provides the cream. But SKC is actually a domestic business with most of the turnover coming from Aucklanders or domestic visitors, They have an analogous position with their casino in Adelaide. Furthermore the insurance payout from the convention centre fires have left them relatively cashed up. So one to keep an eye on I think, although I would say that!
SNOOPY
discl: holder
All bets are off: Casinos grind to a halt over coronavirus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...closures-jobs/
dont know how sky city casino can stay open if you are not allowed large gatherings
Crown Melbourne adopts social distancing
https://www.news.com.au/finance/busi...b2773fd7a7eb49
I think the unions are on top of this. They were in the media yesterday asking what would happen on busy nights when there are more than 500 people on the floor at Sky City Auckland. The solution to me seems obvious. They have security guards on the doors already, If too many people are inside, stop entry! When people leave, the security guard can let in a few more to replace them. I have a feeling the whole situation could be self regulating anyway, with less people wanting to go out in general. Listening between the lines, I got the impression that having 500 people on the floor was a peak event and wouldn't be an issue except for perhaps Friday and Saturday nights. If less people are gambling, then the existing staff can spend more time cleaning the slot machines and tables to keep it safe for those customers that do remain.
The article you referenced Bull is about Las Vegas, a tourist town where casinos are the sole attraction. It is a long bow to compare Auckland (or Adelaide) to Las Vegas. I wouldn't totally discount the risk though, and thanks for the reference.
SNOOPY
i posted another link saying crowne casino in aus is implementing social distance guild lines. it would be good if sky city came out and said how they are going to help in the fight against the virus. they are very quiet maybe profits are all they are concerned about?
From the article you referenced
https://www.news.com.au/finance/busi...b2773fd7a7eb49
"Crown said on Monday it would keep gamblers apart by switching off every second gaming machine and electronic table, barring standing players at seated table games, and restricting the number of players at stand-up table games to five."
"The company will also restrict the number of patrons in its banqueting and conference facilities to 450 people "with a prescribed maximum density"."
"Crown said it has also implemented other measures at its Melbourne and Perth properties, including greater frequency of cleaning and the provision of hand sanitiser."
Very sensible precautions from Crown. I would like to see Sky City mirror these moves.
SNOOPY
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12317277
Steps taken by Sky City
Has anyone been to the Auckland Casino before Coronavirus and since? How much less busy do you think it is? How much more staff than normal are doing nothing?
I can't see any big discounts on the hotel bookings on websites
Gloomy outlook from Sky City
FY20 normalised npat about $85m
Essentially means losing money at the moment
How long will this last?
I sold mine with a bit of a capital loss in the mid $3s.
Was looking to buy back in when there was a 2 as a first number.
Looks like I'll be able to wait for a 1...…..
$1.70.
I have to keep adjusting my buy price down-hardly getting a chance to write down a new number!