Genting Singapore posts S$88.2m H1 profit, expects travel recovery to be drawn out, uncertain

GENTING Singapore posted S$88.2 million in earnings for the six months ended June 2021, reversing a year-ago loss, as operations at Resorts World Sentosa are open again, although with fewer visitors than in pre-pandemic days.

In the second quarter FY2020, the hospitality and integrated resorts group logged S$163.3 million, marking its worst quarterly showing since the opening of its Singapore integrated resort over a decade ago.

Despite improvements this year, the group sounded a sombre note on the back of new Covid-19 variants and strict re-opening measures.

It said in a bourse filing after trading hours on Thursday: "In the short term, we do not anticipate any measurable increase in business sentiment until we have greater visibility of the border re-openings."

Group revenue rose 24 per cent year on year to S$554.8 million for H1 FY2021; earnings per share for the period stood at 0.73 Singapore cents.

No interim dividend was declared for the period due to the "ongoing severity and uncertainty of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic" on the group's financial performance as well as the broader economy. The board noted its intention to declare a final dividend for the financial year at year's end.

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The group acquired leasehold land for the expansion of its Singapore integrated resorts during the financial period, resulting in some S$879.7 million outflow in purchases of plant, property and equipment.

It is also leading a consortium to build a gambling resort in the Japanese port city of Yokohoma, and is still awaiting the outcome of the bid.

Genting Singapore said the Singapore government's support measures, including the S$100 SingaporeRediscovers vouchers scheme, have helped mitigate the challenging environment it has been confronted with.

Still, ongoing travel restrictions between Singapore and its traditional Asian markets continue to "significantly impact" its performance, it said, and expressed hopes that Singapore's "aggressive inoculation programme" will lead to synchronised re-opening and a more relaxed quarantine regime.

"With the Covid-19 pandemic still raging in our regional markets, we believe a sustained and broad-based recovery in travel and tourism will be protracted and subject to a high degree of uncertainty."

Shares of Genting Singapore closed flat at S$0.80 on Thursday.