GGRAsia – GEN Singapore back to black with US$65mln 1H profit

GEN Singapore back to black with US$65mln 1H profit

Aug 12, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Singapore, Top of the deck

Casino operator Genting Singapore Ltd reported a net profit of SGD88.2 million (US$65.0 million) for the first half of 2021, compared to a loss of SGD116.7 million a year before. The result was driven by increased gaming revenue, according to a filing on Thursday to the Singapore Exchange.

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 reported revenue of SGD554.8 million for the period, up 23.8 percent from the first half of 2020. Gaming revenue for the first six months of this year rose by 61.4 percent in year-on-year terms, to nearly SGD442.9 million.

The year-on-year jump was partially related to Genting Singapore having suspended “almost all operations” at Resorts World Sentosa from 6 April 2020 to 30 June 2020, the firm said. That was due to the city-state’s so-called “circuit-breaker” measures to contain the spread locally of Covid-19.

Genting Singapore recorded adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of SGD276.1 million, compared to SGD66.7 million in the first half of 2020.

The firm noted in prepared remarks that, with cross-border travel “being severely curtailed” in its traditional markets, most of the company’s “key offerings” at Resorts World Sentosa “continued to operate at considerably lower levels compared to pre-Covid-19 pandemic” times.

It added: “In the short term, we do not anticipate any measurable increase in business sentiment until we have greater visibility of the border openings.”

Genting Singapore also said a SGD100-voucher scheme made available by the local government to Singaporeans aged 18 and above, to stimulate local spending in the city’s tourism sector, had “helped mitigate the challenging environment” that the company had been facing.

Genting Singapore has declared itself a contender for a Japan casino licence. The Japanese prefecture of Yokohama concluded in June its request-for-proposal (RFP) submission period regarding commercial partners for its tilt at getting a casino complex, and Genting Singapore was shortlisted as one of the contenders in the the race, as was casino operator Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd. A decision on the winning bid is to take place in the coming months.

“With our over 30 years of successful track record in developing tourism-focused integrated resorts, we are confident of delivering a world-class integrated resort destination that will be economically successful for the city of Yokohama, if chosen,” Genting Singapore said in its filing.

No interim dividend was declared for the first half of 2021, as had happened in the same period a year earlier.