Genting Singapore's Q1 earnings halved; remains pessimistic for rest of year

GENTING Singapore on Wednesday saw earnings halved for the first quarter as the global coronavirus pandemic took its toll on tourism. The company said it remains pessimistic for the rest of the year, foreseeing that any recovery may be long-drawn.

The integrated resort operator posted adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (adjusted Ebitda) of S$146.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, a 55 per cent decrease year on year.

This came as revenue fell in both its gaming and non-gaming segments. Gaming revenue declined 38 per cent on the year to S$267.9 million, while non-gaming revenue went down 34 per cent to S$138.4 million.

The overall impact was partially mitigated by a series of measures Genting took to control costs, including instituting pay cuts for all managerial team members and encouraging its employees to take their annual leave.

Genting said in its business update: "Given the fluidity of the unfolding Covid-19 situation, the group remains pessimistic on its outlook for the remaining year. To cope with a potentially volatile and long-drawn recovery process, we will adopt an agile and continuous learning mindset to align our cost structure with the new norm."

But the group gave the assurance that it has built up a strong balance sheet over years that will enable it to continue operating and pursuing growth both at its flagship property Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and globally.

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Genting also still plans to develop an integrated resort in Japan. The group said it has been engaged in the ongoing Request for Concept by the city of Yokohama, and anticipates the launch of the Request for Proposal in the second half of 2020.

RWS is now the managing agent for two facilities in Singapore (Singapore EXPO and MAX Atria), where Covid-19 patients rest and recover.