Australia’s second-largest casino company Star Entertainment Group has announced that its full-year net profit rose 15 per cent, missing analysts’ expectations even though revenue from wealthy Asian visitors hit a record high.

Net profit totalled A$194.4m (US$148.13m) for the year to June 30, the company said, short of analyst expectations of about A$238m. The company’s shares fell three per cent in early trade, underperforming the broader market.

Turnover from the “international VIP” unit, which involves selling tourist packages to high rollers in China and elsewhere in Asia, grew seven per cent to a record A$49.5bn, although the win rate among VIP gamblers was higher than usual.

Profit grew because of “a combination of improved marketing, loyalty programme, sales activity, product offering and stronger macro-economic conditions,” the company said in a statement.

As the Chinese government crackdown ravages the casino industry in Macau, Star and larger Australian rival Crown Resorts are refurbishing and building new casinos in Australia’s tourism hotspots to capitalise on the exodus of big-spending Chinese gamblers.

China provided the biggest boost in Australian visitor numbers in the year to June 30, official data said, up 22 per cent, and now accounts for the most foreign tourists in Australia of any country apart from neighbouring New Zealand.

While Crown plans to build a A$2bn casino near Star’s flagship complex on the Sydney waterfront, Star has trained its attention on a new development in the country’s number three city Brisbane, 600 miles closer to Asia and warmer.