Crown Resorts chairman Robert Rankin has warned that any assessment of the impact the arrests of the company's China-based employees would have on the business was premature and speculative.
Mr Rankin's comments came as the stock market sell-off of Crown shares continued, with the share price now down 17 per cent from its levels before Chinese authorities raided Crown offices on the mainland, detaining 18 employees including three Australian citizens.
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He said that given the lack of information available, it was not possible for anyone to provide informed commentary on the detentions.
Investors who had gathered in Perth for the company's annual meeting on Thursday heard again that the most immediate concern of the board, management and major shareholder James Packer was the welfare and safety of the detained staff.
The chances of getting much more detail from the meeting will be limited as Mr Rankin observed the company needed to be cautious and measured in its commentary given the sensitive time in the process.
"We accept [China's] jurisdiction and we respect their laws. However, at this time there have been no formal charges laid against our staff, the investigation continues and they are of course entitled to a presumption of innocence," Mr Rankin told the meeting.
He reiterated that Crown was working with the Department of Foreign Affairs and lawyers to get more information and understand the reasons for the arrests and resolve the situation, noting that no formal charges had yet been laid.
Fairfax Media this week learnt that police were preparing to charge the Crown employees with organising gambling activities for mainland nationals overseas.
![Crown chairman Rob Rankin, right, pictured last year with James Packer, observed the company needed to be cautious and ...](/web/20161022102255im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/6/g/n/1/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs6qdb.png/1476952948407.jpg)
Sources familiar with the investigation said the line of inquiry had focused on the sales and marketing activities of the 18 staff, and the inducement and facilitation for Chinese nationals to travel to Australia to gamble.
Those investors already nervous about Crown's earnings prospects following the China raids and its impact on the company's VIP gambling business would find little comfort in Thursday's trading update.
Chief executive Rowen Craigie said main floor gaming had grown a tepid 1 per cent from July 1 to October 16, compared with the previous corresponding period, and that VIP program play, which is dominated by the Chinese VIP market, was softer than the prior year across both Melbourne and Perth casinos.
He provided no indication about the trading performance over the past week.
The only bright spot in the revenue update came from non-gaming, which was 5 per cent stronger.
The company's commentary on the Sydney casino at Barangaroo was little changed and made no reference to the impact the Chinese VIP market could have on the development's future.
Ahead of the meeting, the Crown board endorsed long-standing plans to spin off some Australian hotels, a move designed to split the assets from its underperforming businesses in the Chinese gaming hub of Macau, which has seen VIP gambling revenue shrink amid a nationwide crackdown on corruption.
Crown said the spun-off unit would be listed as a new company on the Australian Securities Exchange and would include hotels in Melbourne and Perth. Meanwhile, Crown would work on a broader demerger of its international businesses, it added.
"Such an IPO would support Crown Resorts' ongoing capital management strategy and allow Crown Resorts to maintain a strong balance sheet and credit profile to fund existing development projects," it said in a statement.
with Reuters