GGRAsia – Lim confident on Genting U.S. casino ops: report

Lim confident on Genting U.S. casino ops: report

Jun 25, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World

The chairman of Malaysia’s Genting group, Lim Kok Thay (pictured in a file photo), is “super confident” about its casino business in the United States, reported Bloomberg on Friday, citing the entrepreneur.

The Genting group had on Thursday a soft opening for its US$4.3-billion new gaming property, Resorts World Las Vegas, in the Nevada gambling hub.

The brand also runs Resorts World Casino New York City, and via an associate business, Resorts World Catskills, in upstate New York.

“There’s unmet demand as people had stayed home for so long, and now the increase in vaccination and falling cases have given consumers the confidence to spend again,” Mr Lim said, referring to the U.S. business, in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday. He also said the group would look into the possibility of consolidating and listing its U.S. business when the business-performance numbers pick up and investor confidence returns.

Brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd said in a Thursday note it expected Resorts World Las Vegas – once business built up – to be able to generate earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation, amounting to at least US$250 million annually, or up to the “high US$300s in millions”.

Mr Lim noted in his Friday remarks that he was “cautious” on the outlook for the brand’s operations in Asia, stating that the possibility for growth of the gaming industry in Malaysia was “limited”.

The casino facilities at Genting Malaysia Bhd’s flagship Malaysia complex, Resorts World Genting, have been on temporary shutdown since May 24 as a Covid-19 countermeasure. The entire resort closed for the same reason, soon afterwards, and remains so.

Genting Singapore Ltd, promoter of the Resorts World Sentosa casino complex, one half of Singapore’s casino duopoly, has during this year seen its business in the city-state disrupted by capacity restrictions linked to the pandemic.

Mid-June saw some easing of Covid-19 countermeasures in Singapore, with Resorts World Sentosa announcing that most of its attractions were now “operating at a reduced capacity of 50 percent,” up from a previous 25 percent cap.

In late May, brokerage Nomura had said it was lowering its 2021 earnings estimates for Genting Singapore Ltd, following that company’s “weak” first-quarter results.