Genting Malaysia to benefit from borders reopening in H2

Analysts at Hong Leong Investment Bank have said the casino operator will be one of the “prime beneficiaries” of the reopening of the country’s borders.

Malaysia.- Genting Malaysia’s Resorts World Genting could be one of the big beneficiaries of the reopening of Malaysia’s borders. Although the casino operator began to show signs of recovery during the first quarter of the year, Hong Leong Investment Bank predicts better results in the second half.

That’s because its new SkyWorlds theme park, which opened in February, could be a particular draw for tourists following the reopening of borders.

Analysts said: “Prior to the opening of the theme park, the main attraction in RWG was its casino, which tends to attract, adult, non-Muslim crowds. The opening of SkyWorlds allows RWG to attract a large and previously untapped Muslim market, which represents about 63 per cent of Malaysia’s population.” 

The Malaysian ringgit is currently weak, making the country a relatively inexpensive holiday destination. Meanwhile, Malaysia has eased social restrictions and increased capacity in venues and the Employees Provident Fund’s withdrawal scheme bodes well for leisure spending.

Malaysia has surpassed its target of 2 million inbound tourists for the full year as of June 21, although this is still only 17 per cent of pre-pandemic levels for the same period.

For the first quarter of the year, revenue was up 176.2 per cent year-on-year to MYR1.72bn (US$391.3m). It also reported a net loss of MYR147.9m, narrowing by 70.5 per cent. Revenue from leisure and hospitality operations more than tripled year-on-year, to MYR920m.