Global casino operator Genting Malaysia Bhd reported fourth-quarter net profit of MYR217.6 million (US$48.6 million), compared to a loss of MYR372.4 million in the prior-year period. Judged sequentially, net profit was up 22.7 percent, according to a Thursday filing to Bursa Malaysia.
The company declared a final single-tier dividend of MYR0.09 per ordinary share. Together with an interim dividend of MYR0.06 apiece, the firm declared an aggregate dividend of MYR0.15 per share for full-year 2023.
Revenue in the three months to December 31 reached nearly MYR2.72 billion, flat sequentially, and up 11.8 percent from a year ago.
Genting Malaysia operates Resorts World Genting (pictured in a file photo), Malaysia’s only licensed casino property. The group also runs casinos in the United States, the Bahamas, the United Kingdom, and Egypt.
The group’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were MYR843.9 million, a 78.5-percent increase from a year earlier, and up 12.9 percent sequentially.
Revenue in the leisure and hospitality segment – including casino operations – was MYR2.69 billion in the final quarter of 2023, a 13.1 percent year-on-year improvement. The figure was up 1.5 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Malaysian operations – including some non-gaming resort business as well as the casino at Genting Highlands – accounted for MYR1.80 billion of fourth-quarter leisure and hospitality revenue, up 13.3 percent year-on-year, and a 7.1-percent increase sequentially.
The Malaysia operation’s quarterly adjusted EBITDA stood at MYR529.5 million, up 13.3 percent from a year earlier, but down 6.1 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Genting Malaysia said in a separate release that the higher revenue recorded in the leisure and hospitality operations in Malaysia in the October to December period was “mainly attributable to the overall higher volume of business from Resorts World Genting’s gaming and non-gaming segments”.
“While the group incurred higher operating expenses due to the ramp up of its operations, adjusted EBITDA margin maintained at 29 percent from the same period last year,” it added.
In full-year 2023, group-wide revenue increased by 18.4 percent year-on-year, to MYR10.19 billion, while adjusted EBITDA grew by 24.4 percent to MYR2.63 billion.
Genting Malaysia posted a net profit of MYR360.8 million in 2023, compared to a net loss of MYR667.4 million in the prior year.
The company said in Thursday’s filing that the group’s “operational profitability” in Malaysia during 2023 “exceeded pre-pandemic levels”.
Nonetheless, Genting Malaysia said it remained “cautious” on the near-term outlook of the leisure and hospitality industry, but “positive” in the longer-term.
“In Malaysia, the expected growth in regional tourism and domestic private consumption augurs well for the group’s strategy on increasing visitation and customer spend at Resorts World Genting,” it stated.
Outside the reporting period, the casino group confirmed this week the “temporary” closure of the Circus Palace and Hollywood gaming zones at Resorts World Genting, in order to “facilitate improvements” to the property.
