GGRAsia – GEN Singapore 2022 profit up 86pct, strong 2H rebound

GEN Singapore 2022 profit up 86pct, strong 2H rebound

Feb 20, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Singapore, Top of the deck

Casino operator Genting Singapore Ltd posted annual net profit of SGD340.1 million (US$254.6 million) for full-year 2022, up 85.5 percent from the prior year. That was on revenue that rose 61.7 percent year-on-year, to SGD1.73 billion, according to its unaudited results published on Monday by the firm.

As business volumes picked up during the year, the group’s cost of sales increased by 51.7 percent year-on-year, to SGD1.12 billion.

Genting Singapore is the operator of Resorts World Sentosa (pictured in a file photo), one of Singapore’s two casino resorts. The firm is a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Bhd.

The company proposed a one-tier, tax-exempt final dividend of SGD0.02 per ordinary share, amounting to SGD241.4 million.

Genting Singapore recorded full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of SGD774.2 million, compared to nearly SGD448.0 million in 2021.

The company reported gaming revenue of SGD1.23 billion in the 12-month period, up 53.1 percent from the prior year.

Genting Singapore said in commentary accompanying the results that the group’s overall profit margin “was impacted by higher utility tariffs, increased casino tax rates and accelerated depreciation on certain assets” in connection with the renovation of one of its hotel properties and the expansion of Resorts World Sentosa.

“With the recovery of Singapore’s international visitors, the group’s performance rebounded strongly, with Resorts World Sentosa outperforming significantly over the pandemic years,” stated the firm.

But it warned: “Flight capacity and economic uncertainties will moderate the pace of recovery. We are cautiously optimistic for a full recovery in the medium term.”

The firm also mentioned that as of December 31, the group’s trade receivables measured on a gross basis amounted to SGD160.5 million, the “majority of which are related to casino debtors”.

Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd said in a Monday memo that Genting Singapore’s “bad debt charge” had returned as a “function of strong VIP roll growth of 136 percent year-on-year to SGD16 billion in 2022”.

Monday’s earnings filing nonetheless showed an improvement in business volumes in the second half of 2022. Group-wide revenue in the six months to December 31 was SGD1.06 billion, compared to SGD663.1 million in the first six months; second-half gaming revenue rose 58.6 percent from the first half, to SGD753.7 million.

Genting Singapore’s adjusted EBITDA in the second half of 2022 stood at SGD505.4 million, compared to SGD268.7 million in the first six months of the year.

The city-state was one of the first jurisdictions in Asia to move to a living-with-Covid strategy, bolstered by a high local rate of vaccination.

Singapore’s tally of visitors for this year may at least double, to between 12 million and 14 million, relative to the 6.3 million achieved in 2022, stated in mid-January the Singapore Tourism Board.

Brokerage Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd said in a recent note that Singapore “might see a structurally higher market size” in terms of gross gaming revenue post-Covid-19, compared to pre-pandemic times. It estimated Singapore’s 2023 and 2024 GGR at US$4.4 billion and US$5.2 billion, “versus US$4.6 billion in 2018”.