Genting Bhd’s earnings shrink

Meet & Greet with 20th Century Fox World Mascots At Resorts World Genting

KUALA LUMPUR: Genting Bhd reported earnings of RM191.13mil for the third quarter (Q3) ended Sept 30, 2017, two-thirds lower than a year earlier.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company said the lower earnings was due mainly to the lower group adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) and a reversal of previously recognised impairment losses recorded in Q3 2016 amounting to RM195.2mil (no reversal in the quarter under review).

The previous reversal, which followed improved performance, was for a RM184mil loss on UK casino licences and a RM11.2mil loss on property, plant and equipment.

Genting said revenue from Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore increased 13.7% in the quarter under review to RM1.97bil, supported by stronger VIP and premium mass business volume, while pre-tax profit surged 42.4% to RM1.02bil.

In contrast, revenue from its Malaysian leisure and hospitality segment slipped 7.5% to RM1.35bil and profit fell 29.2% to RM453.9mil.

Revenue from Resorts World Genting (RWG) decreased in Q3 due mainly to lower hold percentage from the mid to premium segments, although overall business volume grew, it said. RWG attracted 6.4 million visitors during the quarter, up 25% from the corresponding period in 2016.
 
The leisure and hospitality segment, as a whole (which also include operations in the UK, US and Bahamas), recorded an 11.6% increase in pre-tax profit to RM1.58bil.

Plantation, the second largest revenue and profit contributor to the Genting group, saw its pre-tax profit shrink 5.0% to RM143.5mil although revenue improved 10.8% to RM405.9mil. The contraction was due to lower fresh fruit bunches production in Malaysia and higher unrealised profit from intra-segment sales.

As for Genting’s other business segments, power’s pre-tax profit grew 13.2% to RM109.0mil, while oil & gas, property, and investments & others all recorded a lower bottom line performance.

For the nine-month financial period, Genting boosted its earnings by 25.8% to RM1.24bil on 8.4% higher revenue of RM14.76bil.

On the group’s plans for the rest of the year, Genting said the Genting Malaysia group, in which it has a 49.3% stake, would remain focused on the development of the RM10.4bil Genting Integrated Tourism Plan at RWG as it prepared to roll out the 20th Century Fox World Theme Park as well as the new indoor theme park next year.

At the Genting Singapore group level, it successfully raised 20 billion yen in a yen-denominated Samurai bond in Japan last month. 

The funds are earmarked for supporting its corporate activities in Japan, including preparatory works in anticipation of the passage of Japan’s Integrated Resorts Implementation Bill and bidding for Japan gaming licences.