GEN Sing investors nod domicile swap, final dividend

Apr 18, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Genting Singapore Plc, the operator of the Resorts World Sentosa casino resort (pictured), approved at its extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday a change of legal domicile for the company from the Isle of Man, to Singapore, and of the firm’s name to Genting Singapore Ltd.

The company had flagged in late March the proposed changes. That earlier filing had made no mention of Genting Singapore’s tax status under a fresh domicile, but said the move from the Isle of Man – a self-governing British Crown dependency in the middle of the Irish Sea – would “increase administrative and operational efficiency [and] reduce administrative and compliance costs”.

At Genting Singapore’s annual general meeting, also held on Tuesday, shareholders approved declaration of a final tax-exempt, one-tier, dividend of SGD0.02 (US$0.0153) per ordinary share for 2017. The dividend is payable to shareholders registered as of May 3.

In late February, Genting Singapore reported that net profit for the whole of 2017 had more than doubled to SGD601 million, versus SGD266.3 million in 2016.

Samuel Yin Shao Yang, of Maybank IB Research, said in a recent note that Resorts World Sentosa gaming operations were likely to benefit this year from a buoyant Macau casino market. Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) for VIP baccarat rose 21 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, and that for mass-market games – including slots – by nearly 20 percent, according to data released on Monday by the Macau government.

“Our conversations with industry participants reveal that the Macau VIP market recovery… has and will spill over to the Singaporean one, Resorts World Sentosa included,” wrote Mr Yin.

He added: “Regarding the higher-margin mass market, we expect it to continue recovering in tandem with consumer sentiment in Singapore. Also, we do not discount the possibility that Resorts World Sentosa may regain more mass market GGR share than expected thanks to the recovering Malaysian ringgit [currency] and new premium mass offerings.”

Genting Singapore’s Malaysian parent Genting Bhd, said in its annual report filed with Bursa Malaysia last week that the Malaysian group was “diligently preparing” for the eventual bidding process for casino licences in Japan.

Genting Singapore raised a total principal amount of JPY20 billion (US$186.4 million) in October 2017, via publicly-offered Japanese yen-denominated bonds.

“The funds are earmarked to support its corporate activities in Japan including preparatory works in anticipation of the passage of the Japan Integrated Resort Execution [Implementation] Bill and bidding for gaming licences in Japan,” the Genting Bhd annual report noted.

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