The appointment of Steve McCann as global chief executive and managing director has been announced by Star Entertainment global. McCann was previously the CEO of Crown Resorts.
 With the necessary regulatory clearances in place, McCann, the current chair of GambleAware Boucher, will officially become the CEO of Star on July 8th.

 Robbie Cooke, who resigned in March but continued to serve as a consultant as Star searched for a successor, was succeeded by him.  Anne Ward, who was recently appointed chair, has been taking on extra duties, while interim group CFO Neale O'Connell has been functioning as CEO.

 Throughout his 28-year career, McCann has held numerous senior positions, making him an accomplished executive.  His tenure from May 2021 to September 2022 as CEO and managing director of Crown is the most significant period to Star.

 He was an employee of the real estate investment and development firm Lendlease for more than fifteen years before this.  The time spent serving as its group CEO spanned almost a decade.

 He had previously held executive positions at Bankers Trust and ABN AMRO.

 Star welcomes McCann at a "critical" juncture
 When asked about the timing of his appointment, McCann said it was a "critical" moment for Star.  And he vows to do his best to win back the trust of the operator, he says.

 "I acknowledge that the organisation faces numerous intricate problems and obstacles," McCann stated.  To promote change, restore confidence, and reach a sustainable settlement, I am dedicated to working with the board and the various stakeholders.

 Chair Ward is pleased to see McCann as well.  A CEO of McCann's level has been secured, and the Star board is satisfied, according to her.

 Ward stated that Star's remediation program will be well-led by him because of his experience working with Crown and his long tenure as a leader at Lendlease.  His past work demonstrates his capacity to drive significant cultural renewal and transformational change while collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders. 

 "This will be a priceless asset as we strive to restore faith and speed up Star's long-term transformation."

 Putting trust back into struggling Star
 When it comes to problems with regulations, Star has taken a beating in recent years.  It will take a lot of effort, according to McCann and Ward, to get customers to trust Star again.

 New South Wales' Independent Casino Commission (NICC) has confirmed that Star is the subject of a second investigation, which is perhaps the most recent major event.  Adam Bell SC, who was in charge of the initial Bell report, will be leading this. 

 Ward will be looking at Star's actions in regards to the first inquiry's suggestions.  After a long list of violations of anti-money laundering and social responsibility regulations was found during the initial examination, the group was deemed unfit to possess a casino licence in New South Wales in September 2022. 

 The second investigation began in February and concluded last month with the submission of its final report.  No information about this has been released as yet.

 Other regulatory news from the past several weeks includes the announcement last month by Queensland authorities that Star's licence suspension will be further delayed. 

 After a string of infractions, the authorities sanctioned the organisation in December 2022.  A $100.0 million fine and the threat of licence suspension awaited it until it could demonstrate its suitability to hold the licence.  After the first deadline of 1 December 2023, Star was given a full year to fix its problems.

 But that was postponed to May 31st of this year following Star's submission of a preliminary remediation plan to resolve the flaws.  The second Bell Inquiry was due to be released last month, so authorities decided to hold off on making a final decision until then. 

 A star's earnings for the year are expected to fall
 Star also said this week that, following a "challenging" year, it will record a drop in full-year revenue. 

 Star expects sales of $1.68bn to $1.69bn for the fiscal year ending 30 June, which is equivalent to £879.6m, €1.04bn, or US$1.11bn.  At its peak, this range would fall 11.1% short of FY23's $1.90 billion.

 The "challenging" trading conditions that Star mentions have persisted all year.  Greater investment in risk and control functions, together with higher operational expenses from transformation and remediation efforts, are also highlighted.

 As a result, Star expects adjusted EBITDA to fall.  We expect this to be between $165 million and $180 million, with a 43.2% decrease from the previous year at the upper end.

 With the end of Q4 imminent, Star has issued the prediction.  Revenue is expected to decline 3.3% year-on-year and 4.3% quarter-on-quarter in the last quarter, further lowering expectations.

 Star mentioned potential asset sales when discussing future plans.  The Treasury hotel, casino, and parking lot are all part of the package, and negotiations for a sale are underway.  Star will provide more details when it announces its FY24 results later this year, but it is also thinking about selling some non-core assets.