John Mortensen appointed Group Chief Operating Officer

SKYCITY Entertainment Group has announced the appointment of John Mortensen as its Group Chief Operating Officer.

Mr Mortensen, who has been Interim Chief Executive of SKYCITY since April 2016, will move into the newly created senior role next May, upon the arrival of new Chief Executive Graeme Stephens.

As COO for both New Zealand and Australia, Mr Mortensen will play a key role in driving EBITDA and value across the group’s six properties in two countries.

Announcing Mr Mortensen’s appointment, SKYCITY Chairman Chris Moller said he was delighted to have secured the continued services of Mr Mortensen in a key senior role for the company.

“John has a long and distinguished pedigree in the casino industry, both at the Federal Group in Tasmania and at SKYCITY in Auckland, where he has previously served as both General Manager Auckland and Chief Operating Officer New Zealand.

“John’s previous stint as COO NZ saw a consolidation of our New Zealand operations under his leadership, enabling efficiencies and synergies across Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown to drive performance and results.

“I look forward to John continuing this work across both countries in his new role, as well as assisting Graeme Stephens as the incoming CEO,’’ Mr Moller said.

Mr Mortensen will take up his new role on 1 May 2017, and will remain as Interim Chief Executive until this time. Mr Stephens, who also takes up his appointment on 1 May, is currently the CEO of Sun International, a publicly-listed company based in Johannesburg, South Africa.