The rating is higher than SkyCity would have expected were it not for the positive steps taken by new CEO Nigel Morrison.
Peter Sikora, Standard & Poor's credit analyst, credited the better rating to “recent debt reduction, a slowdown in discretionary capital expenditure, and improved earnings” that has led to better “financial metrics.”
The rating also takes into account the fact that SkyCity's licensing arrangement eliminates the challenge of local competition. SkyCity has confirmed net profit guidance for 2008 of us$ 82.2 million- us$ 83.7 million after tax but before a us$ 60 million write-down for its unsold cinema division from earlier this year.