Skyline's result, although strong, provides graphic evidence of the economic slowdown in New Zealand tourism.
Chairman Barry Thomas reported a 9% reduction in people riding the company's cableways in Queenstown and Rotorua, and a similar reduction in luge riders; while occupancy at its Blue Peaks Lodge and apartments in Queenstown was down 9%, and occupancy at the Mercure Leisure Lodge was back 1%.
But luge rides at its Singapore and Canadian businesses were up, and Christchurch Casino recorded a similar profit to last year.
Dunedin Casino did not trade well, and Mr Thomas said directors and management were addressing issues to improve its performance.
In the face of lower tourist numbers, the company successfully pruned costs, but it also enjoyed lower interest costs.
Allowing for a slightly higher tax liability of $7.2 million, Skyline recorded a distributable profit of $16.9 million for the year to March 31, compared with $17.6 million for the previous year.
The higher tax provision was due to under-providing for its Singapore operation last year.
Mr Thomas said the overall results were subject to audit adjustment when the sale of the Crowne Plaza Hotel was taken into account.
Accounting standard changes also meant allowing for annual property revaluations, which this year meant a devaluation of $7.9 million, compared with a revaluation gain of $7.5 million the previous year.
Mr Thomas said taking those factors into account left a profit attributed to the company of $9 million, compared with $25.2 million the previous year.
"These property valuations significantly distort our results. However, the underlying trading performance of the group was very good, and the fundamentals remain strong," he said.
During the year, $3.1 million was spent on renovations at Christchurch Casino, and further work was planned this year but had not been costed.
Skyline Queenstown had a satisfactory trading year, he said, but Dunedin Casino appeared to be hit hard by the difficult trading climate.
Skyline Properties had started rebuilding a Rees St property destroyed by fire in Queenstown, which Mr Thomas said should be completed by the end of the year.
There had already been interest from tenants, while other property it owned in the resort traded well with rents being held, he said.
In the coming year the company faced capital expenditure upgrading the Queenstown gondola and refurbishing the Skyline complex.
Given this, Mr Thomas said directors had recommended reducing the dividend from 28c last year to 22c this year.
This represented 43% of the distributable profit.
Looking ahead, Mr Thomas said difficulty predicting tourist numbers and the impact on airlines and business of the global recession encouraged a conservative forecast.
"We believe that the trends will probably be short-lived and in the not too distant future we should be back to a growth platform," he said.
The annual meeting would be held on September 19, Mr Thomas said.
