Casino operator Genting Singapore Ltd posted a SGD69.2-million (US$52.1 million) net profit for full-year 2020, down 89.9 percent from the previous year. The company said it was the group’s “worst financial performance” since the opening of its Resorts World Sentosa complex (pictured in a file photo) in 2010.
In a Tuesday filing, Genting Singapore stated that a “very substantial amount, two thirds of this net profit, was attributable to the better performance before the Lunar New Year of 2020, i.e., the first-quarter 2020 period, prior to the steep onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in Asia”.
The filing added: “The rest of financial-year 2020 was very negatively impacted by regulatory restrictions, border closures and operating capacity [issues] due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The company declared a final dividend of SGD0.01 per ordinary share, amounting in aggregate to SGD120.6 million.
Genting Singapore said the decline in 2020 profit was because the group’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) “declined significantly”, by 68.2 percent year-on-year, to SGD372.6 million.
Revenue for the reporting period fell by 57.1 percent year-on-year, to just above SGD1.06 billion.
Gaming revenue for full-year 2020 fell by 56.7 percent from the previous year, to SGD700.8 million. Most of such revenue was recorded in the second half, to the tune of SGD426.4 million, up 55.4 percent from the first six months of 2020.
Non-gaming revenue in 2020 was SGD299.4 million, down 65.1 percent compared to nearly SGD857.9 million in 2019.
The property had been shut for most of the second quarter last year. The casino resort reopened progressively in the second half of 2020, “but at a reduced operating capacity” as part of countermeasures against Covid-19. Despite some mitigating factors, Genting Singapore’s net profit for the second half of 2020 “showed a deterioration of 41 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2019.”
The company added: “This led the group to record the worst financial performance since the opening of our Singapore integrated resort in 2010.”
Genting Singapore said additionally that as Singapore moved into a so-called “Phase 3” of reopening of the economy at the end of 2020, Resorts World Sentosa “began operating the resort facilities with further relaxation to the Phase-2 limited operating capacity.”
The casino operator has declared itself a contender for a Japan casino licence. It said in its Tuesday business update: “We are encouraged by the steps taken by the city of Yokohama to launch a formal bidding process for the development of an integrated resort (IR).”
It added: “We remain committed to our vision of creating a world-class IR destination that is uniquely positioned and sustainable, and anchored on strong local partnerships. We will continue to engage the relevant stakeholders in this process.”
