GGRAsia – GEN Malaysia 2023 EBITDA may grow 18pct y-o-y: Maybank

GEN Malaysia 2023 EBITDA may grow 18pct y-o-y: Maybank

Nov 24, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Global casino operator Genting Malaysia Bhd may see its full-year 2023 earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grow by 18 percent year-on-year, to nearly MYR2.82 billion (US$601 million), as “more rooms for gamblers are made available” at its Malaysia casino complex, Resorts World Genting (pictured), suggested Maybank Investment Bank Bhd in a Thursday memo.

The memo, issued following Genting Malaysia’s release of its third-quarter results, also forecast the casino operator’s 2024 EBITDA to “grow by another 19 percent year-on-year,” to MYR3.34 billion, once the impact of Covid-19 pandemic “fully subsides”.

“We expect balance sheet to remain in net debt as Genting Malaysia has been more progressive in paying dividends,” wrote Maybank analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang in the Thursday memo.

Resorts World Genting is Malaysia’s only licensed casino property. The group also runs casinos in the United States, the Bahamas, the United Kingdom, and Egypt.

“Resorts World Genting is circa 80 percent of group earnings and resilient,” the memo also mentioned.

The number of visitor arrivals to Resorts World Genting for the third quarter was 5.4 million, a tally that was “flat” sequentially but “well above” the 4.7 million seen in the first quarter this year, following the Batang Kali landslide that happened in December, the Maybank memo noted.

“With the nine months of 2023 Resorts World Genting visitor arrivals at 15.7 million or 75 percent of our fiscal year estimate, we are comfortable with our earnings estimate,” suggested the Maybank analyst.

“Going into the fourth quarter of 2023, we expect it to be seasonally strong for Resorts World Genting thanks to the year-end holidays albeit seasonally weaker American operations due to the winter season,” the memo also noted.

Citing remarks from Genting Malaysia, the Thursday memo from Maybank noted that the company was still attempting to sell land it controlled in Miami, Florida in the United States. A would-be purchaser in a US$1.23-billion deal had pulled out, the operator had outlined in a June announcement.

Genting Malaysia has also been pursuing a downstate casino licence in New York. The New York State Gaming Commission in January launched a request for applications process for three downstate New York gaming licences.

Genting Malaysia has “submitted its second round of questions” to the New York State Gaming Commission in its request for application process, and “expects a response to its questions soon”, the Maybank memo stated, citing the operator.