Star shares tank as hearing continues
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The news: The Star Entertainment Group's shares have tanked during the second day of the public hearings in the second NSW inquiry into the casino's suitability. The hearing was told on Tuesday that the casino needed continuing supervision.
The numbers: Star shares extended losses from Monday and were down 12.37% to $0.42 by 3:04pm AEDT.
The context: During the second day of hearings, the inquiry heard Star had difficulty in delivering completed milestones within timeframes for its remediation plan.
Speaking as a witness, special manager Nicholas Weeks said Star had struggled to incorporate the rigorous assurance process that KPMG had implemented. Part of the reason was that the quality of closure packs or closure material provided by the company to KPMG was not at the requisite quality, he said.
“So, there's quite a bit of work and time involved in going back and forth between KPMG and the company to satisfy KPMG is assurance process,” Weeks said.
Weeks noted the status of the group leadership team was “unsettled” as it comprised very important roles held by interim staff.
The permanent roles that still needed to be appointed were CEO, CFO, chief legal officer, chief transformation officer, group chief customer or product officer, and possibly a chief of staff.
Weeks said the remediation plan execution would be based on how quickly Star’s board rebuilt the executive team and the appetite of regulators to be patient with some aspects of remediation that would inevitably need to be pushed back.
Weeks was appointed to Star in late 2022 by the NSW Independent Casino Commission to monitor the company after it was found unfit to hold its gaming licence in Sydney after faking documents, misleading authorities and ignoring money-laundering risks.
Monday’s hearing heard that the Star’s chair and former CEO plotted to oust Weeks, Bloomberg reported.
What they said: “At this point in time, I think the casino needs continuing supervision whether that's me or somebody else, and in fact Mr. Conde that was the submission that company made to the regulator only in September last year,” Weeks said, answering a question on managing the casino in an appropriate and suitable way from Casper Conde, the counsel assisting the inquiry.
The sources: NSW Independent Casino Commission public hearing, Bloomberg
