Genting Group to grow as Chinese tourists resume travel, analysts say
Samuel Yin Shao Yang, an analyst at Maybank, also revealed Genting Group could pursue a Thai integrated resort (IR) licence if Thailand legalises casinos.
Singapore.- Genting Group is gearing up for what could be a big 2024 thanks mainly to the “mass return of Chinese tourists”, according to a Maybank Investment Bank report.
Maybank’s analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang stated that Genting Singapore may benefit from a resumption of outbound Chinese tourism post-Covid-19, which could lead to growth in its gaming operations around Asia.
He also noted that despite higher tax rates, Genting Singapore’s earnings are expected to recover this year, thanks to higher than pre-Covid-19 gaming revenues.
Yin Shao Yang projected that most of the growth in gaming revenue this year would come from Chinese tourists, given the recent policy introduced by Singapore authorities granting 30-day visa-free entry to Chinese visitors.
Yin also predicted that Resorts World Sentosa, Genting Singapore’s casino property, could recover completely to pre-Covid-19 levels this year, as seat capacity for flights from China to Singapore recovers.
In the long term, he expected Resorts World Sentosa’s VIP volume and mass market gross gaming revenue to exceed 2019 levels by around 20 per cent.
Regarding Genting Malaysia, Maybank’s analyst forecasted that visitor arrivals to Resorts World Genting, Malaysia’s sole casino resort, ought to recover to pre-Covid-19 levels this year.
He also noted that Malaysian authorities recently granted 30-day visa-free entry to Chinese visitors, which would help the recovery in the number of Chinese visiting Resorts World Genting. He anticipated that air connectivity between Malaysia and China would be fully restored this year, which may further boost Chinese visitor arrivals.
The analyst also mentioned that a potentially positive trigger for Genting Malaysia this year would be the firm securing a downstate commercial casino licence in the state of New York in the United States.
The New York State Gaming Commission launched a request for applications process for three downstate New York gaming licenses in January last year.
Samuel Yin Shao Yang also suggested that Genting Group could bid for a Thai IR jointly with Genting Singapore if the country liberalizes its IR industry.
Last October, as Focus Gaming News previously reported, the Thai House of Representatives established a 60-member committee tasked with exploring the potential establishment of entertainment complexes with casinos.
