Genting Singapore Ltd, the operator of the Resorts World Sentosa casino resort (pictured), reported a net profit of SGD356.9 million (US$271.4 million) for the first six months of 2024, up 29.0 percent from a year earlier.
Revenue for the period rose by 25.5 percent year-on-year, to SGD1.36 billion, said the casino operator in a Wednesday filing.
First-half adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) were SGD570.8 million, an improvement of 26.2 percent from the prior-year period.
For the second quarter, adjusted EBITDA was down 45.5 percent at SGD201.3 million, compared to SGD369.5 million in the preceding quarter.
Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd said in June that it expected Resorts World Sentosa to see a sequential decline in EBITDA for the second quarter, due to “seasonality, lower visitation quarter-on-quarter and 23-percent fewer rooms quarter-on-quarter in operation”.
The institution had flagged previously that Resorts World Sentosa’s gaming volume for 2024 “could be limited by 400 fewer hotel rooms after Hard Rock closure”.
That was a reference to the March 2 shuttering of that hotel brand, as Genting Singapore proceeds with a SGD6.80-billion investment to upgrade the complex.
On Wednesday, Genting Singapore proposed a one-tier, tax-exempt interim dividend of SGD0.02 per ordinary share, amounting to just under SGD241.5 million. The dividend will be paid on September 18.
The casino firm reported first-half 2024 gaming revenue of SGD957.6 million, up 28.2 percent from the prior-year period. Judged sequentially, gaming revenue was down 33.8 percent, at SGD381.6 million.
Investment analysts had mentioned that “extremely high” hold in the VIP gambling segment helped Genting Singapore’s business performance in the first three months of 2024.
First-half non-gaming revenue was SGD393.2 million, 20.3-percent higher than a year ago. Such non-gaming revenue was down 11.2 percent quarter-on-quarter, at SGD184.9 million.
“During the second quarter of 2024, we maintained steady visitor numbers through concerts and special programming at our attractions,” said Genting Singapore in commentary in its filing to the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday.
“While we expect that the number of visitor arrivals to Singapore will grow, a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels could face headwinds due to recovery of regional travel destinations and rising geopolitical tensions,” it added.
Resort ‘refreshment’ and RWS 2.0
The company said it would “continue to refresh and rejuvenate existing offerings” at Resorts World Sentosa.
“In the second half of 2024, Resorts World Sentosa will roll out four global blockbuster intellectual property partnerships,” said the company, adding that the “differentiated programmes and events are anticipated to boost both visitorship and spending” at the complex.
Genting Singapore also gave some updates on its new non-gaming elements.
It said the first phase of its expansion project – called “RWS 2.0” – “remains on track for soft opening in early 2025”. It includes Illumination’s Minion Land, the Singapore Oceanarium, “and an all-suite hotel in place of the Hard Rock Hotel”.
The firm added: “The Waterfront development which includes two new luxury hotels, is expected to begin construction in the fourth quarter this year.”
JP Morgan Securities said in a Wednesday memo: “Genting Singapore’s second quarter was bad, no two ways about it.
“EBITDA, even on luck-adjusted, fell 9 percent quarter-on-quarter, to miss JP Morgan/consensus by 5 to 10 percent,” added analysts DS Kim, Sigrid Qiu, Mufan Shi and Selina Li.
But they also observed: “On a positive note, Genting Singapore hiked interim dividend per share to SGD0.02 – versus SGD0.015 a year ago – which, assuming the same for final, implies a handsome 5 percent per annum yield.”
JP Morgan also said it saw capacity additions in non-gaming that might currently be “underappreciated” by the market, mentioning an “all-suites hotel, lots of non-gaming, and RWS 2.0”.
Samuel Yin Shao Yang, an analyst at Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, said that while a “luck factor and seasonality weighed on the second-quarter 2024 results” at Genting Singapore, “an all-suite hotel in place of Hard Rock Hotel that will reopen in early 2025 will also likely attract more VIPs and premium mass gamblers”.
(Updated 10.40am, Aug 15)