Crown Earnings Miss Estimates

Bloomberg – Crown Resorts Ltd. (CWN), the gaming company controlled by billionaire James Packer, slumped after first-half profit missed analyst estimates as a 26 percent decline in bets from high-rolling gamblers weighed on earnings. Net income was A$382.5 million ($344 million) in the six months ended Dec. 31, the Melbourne-based company said in a regulatory statement today, more than double the A$180.8 million result a year earlier. Crown fell 3.2 percent to A$16.68 at the close in Sydney trading, the biggest decline since Dec. 13. Australian casino companies are counting on growing demand from high-spending Chinese and other Asian tourists…