Genting Casino Chinatown in London. Genting UK is one of the largest casino operators in the UK.
KUALA LUMPUR: Genting Bhd
posted lower earnings of RM130.8mil for the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31 compared with RM620.1mil a year ago.
The company, in its results report to Bursa Malaysia, said: “The decrease was due mainly to lower group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) (RM1.1bil versus RM1.8bil previously) and the inclusion of gain on disposal of available-for-sale financial assets (RM298.1mil) and reversal of previously recognised impairment losses (RM40.6mil) in the corresponding quarter last year.”
Pre-tax profit for the leisure and hospitality segment - the group’s biggest profit contributor by far - fell by 1.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM1.29bil. Profit for the segment’s Malaysian operations dropped 5.2% to RM581.3mil and that for Resorts World Sentosa (Singapore) slipped 3.5% to RM590.6mil. However, this was partly offset by a 157% jump in the UK operations’ profit to RM98.7mil.
Genting said the lower revenue and adjusted Ebitda from Resorts World Genting in Malaysia was due to lower hold percentage in the premium players business and the impact of the goods and services tax, partially mitigated by an overall higher business volume.
As for Resorts World Sentosa, it recorded higher revenue in Q1, contributed mainly by the non-gaming segment. Genting said the attractions business achieved visitorship of about 1.6 million as Universal Studios Singapore recorded its best first-quarter performance since opening in terms of both revenue and attendance.
On the UK casino performance, it said the better revenue was mainly due to its premium players business (international markets) as a result of higher hold percentage offset by lower volume of business. It also attributed the improvement to a stronger pound exchange rate to the ringgit.
“The higher revenue and higher bad debt recovery in the current quarter contributed to a higher adjusted Ebitda.”
Genting’s other businesses -- plantation, property, oil & gas and investments -- all made lower contributions to profits compared with a year earlier, the exception being power, which swung to a RM14mil profit from a RM200,000 loss previously.
On the RM312.3mil pre-tax loss of the Investments & Others segment (versus a profit of RM318.6mil previously), Genting said this was due mainly to foreign exchange losses on net foreign currency denominated financial assets.
Meanwhile, Genting Bhd’s 49.3%-owned Genting Malaysia Bhd also announced lower earnings for Q1, at RM161.6mil compared with RM362.1mil in the corresponding period of last year.
The group’s adjusted Ebitda in the quarter was RM444.3mil compared with RM608.3mil in Q1 2015, a decrease of 27%.
Genting attributed the lower adjusted Ebitda mainly to factors such as foreign exchange losses of RM138.8mil on the group’s US dollar-denominated assets as a result of the strengthening of the ringgit, and the lower adjusted Ebitda for its leisure and hospitality business in Malaysia and from the leisure and hospitality business in US and Bahamas.
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