KUALA LUMPUR: Genting Malaysia Bhd
's (GenM) shares were the most actively traded on Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday as parent company Genting Bhd announced its plan to take the leisure and hospitality firm private.
The shares of both Genting Malaysia and Genting were suspended from trading yesterday in light of the announcement.
At the open, GenM shares gapped up to the offer price of RM2.35 a share, representing a 9.8% premium over the counter's last traded price on Friday.
As at 9.25am, the counter was the most active on Bursa Malaysia with 89.43 million shares done. The share price stood two sen adrift of the offer price at RM2.33.
Holding company Genting, meanwhile, was also seeing heavy trading action with an opening price of RM3, and an intraday high of RM3.06 after 13.7 million shares crossed.
When approached by Starbiz, Tradeview Capital Sdn Bhd portfolio manager Ng Tzyy Loon deemed the offer of RM2.35 per share “unfair but reasonable”
He said the RM2.35 offer price may be deemed unfair for investors who have held the stock for years at higher prices of RM3 to RM5.
“However, investors may still take the offer because they have no choice. If they do not accept it, they probably would not be able to recover their money,” he told StarBiz.
Shares in GenM were traded for as high as RM5.43 way back in May 2017. The share has since seen a series of setbacks with a correction taking place in October 2018 following the government's decision to impose higher casino annual fees and duties on gross income.
The bad luck continued later that year with a decision by Walt Disney Co and 21st Century Fox to scrap a theme park venture in Genting Highlands.
More recently, GenM's share price took a tumble on Feb 28 through to April 10, 2025, where it bottomed out at a two-decade low of RM1.48 a share.
The sharp selldown was triggered by news of Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay relinquishing his role as Genting group CEO coupled with a poor financial showing in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2024.
During the quarter, GenM recorded a net loss of RM457.9mil as compared to a net profit of RM239.6mil in the same quarter a year earlier.
Over the full financial year, GenM's earnings had dropped 42% to RM251.28mil from RM436.79mil.
The firm attributed the poor performance mainly to the impact of unrealised foreign exchange translation losses. There were also exceptional items, higher pre-opening expenses in relation to the group’s application for a New York gaming licence and higher financing costs.
