Genting Singapore Q3 net profit falls 65.7% on Covid-19 pandemic

INTEGRATED resort operator Genting Singapore "continues to experience weak demand" at its Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) property, even after the property reopened from July 1 amid the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

Mainboard-listed Genting released its third-quarter business update on Saturday, showing a 65.7 per cent slide in net profit for the three months to Sept 30.

Even though investment and other hospitality and support services businesses returned to profitability from an earlier loss, earnings still slipped to S$54.4 million, from S$158.9 million in the year-ago period, on a decline in the core integrated resort division.

Revenue nearly halved year on year to S$301 million, from S$596.1 million before.

The plunge was sharper in the non-gaming segment, which recorded a 74.5 per cent drop in turnover, to S$59.9 million. Still, RWS casino operations also posted a 40.1 per cent decrease in takings, to S$212.9 million.

"Whilst grappling with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the group continues to experience weak demand," Genting said in a bourse filing. "Covid-19 has caused an unprecedented crisis for the travel and tourism industry."

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But the company, which resorted to a one-off retrenchment of about 2,000 RWS workers in July, added that it is adapting its guest offerings - for example, by rolling out staycation packages for the upcoming festive season, as travel curbs remain in place.

Genting also said that its growth strategy includes a S$4.5 billion expansion of RWS and "keenly exploring" the possibility of diversifying abroad as Japan opens up the opportunity of developing an integrated resort in Yokohama.

"We will evaluate the conditions of the request for proposal and the investment environment when the formal bidding process begins, and will respond with a proposal if these conditions meet the group's investment criteria," Genting said of the Japan deal.

Shares closed flat at S$0.745 on Friday, before the results were out.