The fourth quarter for Genting Singapore Ltd, which runs the Resorts World Sentosa casino complex in Singapore, was “really, not good,” said a Tuesday note from banking group JP Morgan, adding that the firm’s gaming market share “sank to an all-time low”. It followed the posting of Genting Singapore’s full-year and second-half results to the Singapore Exchange.
Genting Singapore had announced annual net profit of just over SGD390.3 million (US$308.2 million), down 32.6 percent from 2024, though Genting boss Lim Kok Thay had said in a press release that 2025 was a “defining transition year”.
Maybank Research Pte Ltd nonetheless said there had been a “weak end” to 2025 for the casino firm, and that full-year 2025 results had “underwhelmed”.
JP Morgan highlighted that management mention of 2025 as a “year of reset” had not so far translated into better performance. Maybank stated it had expected the fourth quarter to show sequential improvement in the upper-tier gambling segment, due to the arrival of The Laurus Hotel product at the complex, “but it did not materialise”.
JP Morgan stated: “Management keeps emphasising 2025 as ‘a year of reset’ and talks of ‘strengthening the leadership bench,’ while bad debt provisions ran unusually high at SGD55 million to SGD60 million in the fourth quarter (versus SGD30 million to SGD40 million in recent quarters). But results like these don’t inspire confidence.”
Though the brokerage said that among “key positives” were that “non-gaming revenues continue to rebound,” rising 15 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter.
It said that The Laurus Hotel had helped with non-gaming, as had the revamped retail area dubbed “WEAVE”, and the opening of the Singapore Oceanarium in July.
JP Morgan stated: “This momentum should extend into 2026 … at least through first half 2026, as additional amenities and retail tenants come online.”
The bank added: “Over time, this could help Genting Singapore recapture some gaming share from Marina Bay Sands – though tangible evidence of that remains elusive, at least thus far.”
That was a reference to Resorts World Sentosa’s duopoly rival in the Singapore casino market, the Marina Bay Sands complex run by a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Maybank stated that for Genting Singapore: “Fourth quarter 2025 VIP [gambling] volume fell circa 15 percent quarter-on-quarter to SGD7.4 billion, as Resorts World Sentosa ceded 15 percentage points of VIP volume share to Marina Bay Sands.”
JP Morgan said that in terms of gaming market share, Resorts World Sentosa faced “new lows all around”.
“Market share keeps slipping for both VIP… and mass/slot… driving down its total luck-adjusted GGR share to a record low of 25 percent. The gap with MBS keeps widening,” said the bank.
JP Morgan also noted that fourth-quarter earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) “hit a three-year low, even when luck-adjusted,” at SGD179 million.
Maybank stated that while The Laurus Hotel – which launched in October – “could accommodate more VIPs and premium mass gamblers,” Genting Singapore had given guidance that the hotel “only fully opened two days ago and will need time to ramp up but we gather that competition from Marina Bay Sands remains intense”.
Maybank said that although Genting Singapore’s earnings were “below expectations,” its dividends were “in-line” with what the market had expected.
Though the institution stated Genting Singapore “did not indicate that it will return its huge net cash pile to shareholders”.
As of December 31, Genting Singapore maintained what it termed a “strong” balance sheet, with total equity of SGD8.2 billion and cash balances in excess of SGD3.2 billion.
