Star Entertainment Group Appoints New CEO for Gold Coast Operations

Jessica Mellor's appointment as the CEO of Gold Coast operations is a noteworthy development for The Star Entertainment Group. She brings a wealth of experience, having previously served as the Star Gold Coast's chief operating officer and general manager. Prior to her time with The Star, Mellor held senior positions with Aquis Entertainment, Aquis Australia, Custodian Funds Management Group, the JLF Group of Companies, and Leighton Contractors.

In her statement, Jessica Mellor expressed her enthusiasm for this new role, emphasizing the resilience and innovation of the Gold Coast. She also highlighted the importance of The Star's contributions to the city's extraordinary future. This appointment is part of an organizational restructuring effort that aims to create property-based operational business units for Star locations in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and Sydney. Each unit will be led by a property-based CEO who will report directly to the group CEO and managing director, Robbie Cooke. Further CEO appointments for the Sydney and Brisbane locations will be announced in due course.

Group CEO Robbie Cooke explained that the restructuring is designed to simplify the company's structure and provide clearer operational accountability at the property level, while maintaining oversight at the group level.

However, this appointment and restructuring coincide with The Star Entertainment Group's financial challenges. The company has been grappling with a significant writedown in the value of its casinos in Sydney, Gold Coast, and Brisbane, resulting in a net loss of AU$2.40 billion for the full year. This loss can be attributed to several "significant items," including a non-cash impairment of AU$2.20 billion for the goodwill and property assets in these locations. Regulatory and legal costs of AU$595 million, debt restructuring costs of AU$54 million, and redundancy costs of AU$16 million also contributed to the financial strain.

Last month, The Star suspended trading on the Australian Stock Exchange to carry out a large-scale capital restructuring. This included an AU$750.0 million capital raising and securing $450.0 million in new debt facilities with Barclays Bank and Westpac Banking Corporation, comprising a $150.0 million four-year revolving credit facility and a $300.0 million four-year underwritten term loan.

This move signifies a critical juncture for The Star Entertainment Group, and Jessica Mellor's appointment as CEO represents a pivotal step in the company's quest for recovery and growth.