NZ's Sky City year profit falls 49 pct

WELLINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - New Zealand's largest casino operator Sky City Entertainment Group Ltd. (SKC.NZ) reported on Monday a 49 percent fall in full year profit after an asset writedown.

Sky City made a net profit of NZ$49.9 million ($35.3 million) in the year ended June 30, compared with a NZ$98.4 million profit the year before.

Sky City declared a dividend of 10.5 cents per share, compared with 12 cents per share last year.

The company had previously forecast a profit of NZ$108-110 million before the NZ$60 million writedown of its cinema business.

A survey of 8 analysts by Reuters Estimates had a median profit forecast of NZ$49.4 million.

Shares in Sky City closed on Friday at NZ$3.43 having fallen around 23 percent so far this year, compared with an 18 percent drop for the benchmark NZSX-50 index .NZ50.

Sky City owns or has an interest in four casinos and a cinema chain in New Zealand, where a ban on new casinos has given it a virtual monopoly.

It also has casinos in Adelaide and Darwin in Australia, where it competes with Tabcorp (TAH.AX) and Tattersall's Ltd (TTS.AX). (NZ$1=$1.41)