News: CWN Australia's Crown Resorts profit drops 11% as VIP gamblers cut back on spending

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Australia's Crown Resorts Ltd (CWN) on Wednesday posted a 11% fall in half-year profit as Chinese high-rollers scaled back spending amid a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

Normalised net profit, which removes variance in win rates, fell to A$172.7 million ($115.47 million) for six months ending Dec. 31, from A$194.1 million reported a year ago.

Crown said 'VIP' program play turnover for its Australian resorts fell 34.2% to A$13.1 billion.

The company declared an interim dividend of 30 Australian cents per share on par with the dividend announced last year.

($1 = 1.4957 Australian dollars)