Genting Berhad seen lifting earnings in 2H23 on higher visitation to Singapore, Las Vegas casinos

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Genting Berhad seen lifting earnings in 2H23 on higher visitation to Singapore, Las Vegas casinos
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Malaysia gaming giant Genting Berhad should enjoy improved sequential earnings in the second half of 2023 as visitation to its casinos in Singapore and Las Vegas improves on seasonality and major events, according to Maybank Investment Bank.

In a note, Maybank analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang said earnings should improve for the Genting group after core net profit for the first six months of 2022 came in slightly below expectations, despite climbing 58% quarter-on-quarter in 2Q23 to MYR160.5 million (US$34.6 million), up from MYR98.0 million (US$2.1 million) in Q1.

While the June quarter benefited from improved visitation at both Resorts World Genting (RWG) in Malaysia and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) in Singapore, Yin explained that earnings should grow significantly during the second half of the year on “seasonally higher visitor arrivals at all its integrated resorts.

“As a leisure destination, RWS traditionally welcomes more visitors in July and August due to summer holidays in the northern hemisphere,” he wrote. “After a slow start in 1H23, [RWS] also noted that Chinese visitors are starting to return en masse.

“Resorts World Las Vegas also ought to welcome more visitors in 4Q23 in conjunction with the inaugural Formula 1 race in Las Vegas.”

Maybank IB has trimmed by 3% its earnings per share estimates for 2023 but has maintained its estimates for 2024 and 2025. Current revenue projections have revenues rising 16.3% to MYR26.0 billion (US$5.60 billion) in 2023, and another 10.7% to MYR28.8 billion (US$6.21 billion) in 2024.