GGRAsia – RWG new mass area, shut mass zones still dark: analyst

RWG new mass area, shut mass zones still dark: analyst

Jan 06, 2025 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

A fresh mass gaming area has opened at Resorts World Genting (RWG), Malaysia’s monopoly casino resort (pictured), according to a site visit just before New Year by Maybank Investment Bank Bhd.

But the Circus Palace and Hollywood gaming zones at the property that were shuttered last February, remain closed for now, said a Monday note from Maybank analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang. “It does appear to us that renovations are underway,” he added.

The new gaming zone is labelled “Genting Casino”, according to Maybank, and has “two areas with two themes”.

The memo stated: “One is similar to Sky Casino, i.e. bronze coloured fittings and light green carpeting. The other is traditional Chinese.”

Mr Yin added: “We observe that Genting Casino has a lot of lower yielding slot machines and electronic tables but we understand that margins are higher than conventional tables as fewer staff are required.”

The analyst said 36 “conventional tables” were deployed with most play at baccarat and roulette tables.

Other tables were for stud poker, Texas Hold ‘em poker, pontoon, and sic bo. Minimum table bets ranged from MYR10 (US$2.22) to MYR100.

Mr Yin stated: “We did not notice any smoking lounges which is negative for length of play as gamblers have to leave the casino to smoke.”

He added: “While the opening of the new Genting casino [area] is positive due to additional capacity, we gather that it is less than 10 percent of total capacity when the Circus Palace and Hollywood mass gaming floors were operating.”

“Thus, its opening does not compel us to revise our earnings estimates upwards,” added the analyst.

In late November, Maybank cut “by 25 percent” its full-year 2025 forecast for mass-market gross gaming revenue (GGR) at Resorts World Genting, a property run by Genting Malaysia Bhd.

Mr Yin noted in Monday’s note, referring to the Circus Palace and Hollywood mass gaming areas: “We understand that they will reopen eventually but a date has not been set yet.”

Were the latter two facilities “to reopen in full,” it would “raise our earnings forecasts by circa 20 percent per annum,” said the analyst.

Maybank says the Malaysian venue accounts for circa 80 percent of Genting Malaysia group earnings.

Resorts World Genting’s ongoing revamp – under the Genting Integrated Tourism Plan (GITP) – involves 1,536 hotel rooms, an outdoor theme park, indoor theme park, mall, plaza and new cable car line.

The company also runs gaming in the United States, the Bahamas, and the United Kingdom.