James Packer has stepped down as the chairman of his casino group Crown Resorts.
The billionaire made the announcement on Thursday morning, saying he will stay on as a senior executive director. Robert Rankin will replace him as chairman.
“Crown remains my number one business priority and passion,” he said in a statement. “I am extremely proud of the company and look forward to continuing our efforts to build a global luxury brand. Crown has a pipeline of resorts globally and this is where the majority of my time will be spent.”
“Rob Rankin has my complete trust and respect as an executive and he will do an outstanding job as chairman. Given our global growth and aspirations, this is the right time for the company to make this change. I look forward to working closely with him.”
Rankin is a former co-head of corporate banking and securities at Deutsche Bank and singled out Rupert Murdoch as his “business hero” in an Australian Financial Review profile last year. A position was created for him as head of Packer’s private investment vehicle Consolidated Press Holdings, which he took up in January. He was announced as a director of Crown Resorts a month later, an appointment which became effective in July.
“James has put his heart and soul into the company and worked tirelessly to build one of Australia’s most successful tourism and entertainment businesses,” Rankin said in a statement.
“...James may be leaving the chairman’s role, but he will have day-to-day engagement and will be actively involved at board level to ensure we meet our targets and ambitious development goals.”
Packer’s announcement came as Crown Resorts delivered its 2015 full year results which chief executive Rowen Craigie described as “mixed”.
Gross gaming revenue in the Macau market fell by 26.8% over the past year and in the six months leading up to June declined by 37%.
In Australia revenue was up by 14% with main floor gaming raking in $1.59bn and non-gaming revenue taking in $664.7m.
The company is currently developing a six-star hotel and high rollers casino as part of the Barangaroo development in Sydney. The hotel and casino was given the green light by the state government in 2013 after intensive lobbying which Packer himself was heavily involved in.
Packer singled out the development in his statement, saying no other project was more important.
“Of course, I remain deeply committed to building the world’s best six-star hotel at Barangaroo in Sydney. Crown Sydney is a globally iconic project that will attract hundreds of thousands of tourists to Australia, create jobs, taxes and new revenue for the people of New South Wales,” he said.
“Crown Sydney will be something truly special for the people of Sydney and Australia. No project is more important to me.”
In May Crown finalised agreements with the Barangaroo Delivery Authority and Lend Lease to develop the Crown Sydney site at Barangaroo South.
