Genting Singapore is “several quarters away” from recovery

According to analysts from Union Gaming Security, the company will not see a short-term recovery.

Singapore.- Casino resort company Genting Singapore is “still several quarters away” from recovery after the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to analysts from brokerage Union Gaming Securities.

The firm’s Resorts World Sentosa is missing international tourism and it has yet to be seen how it will manage amid pandemic measures, with the drop in international tourism, which represented 80 per cent of the resort’s visitation.

Analyst John DeCree said in the report: “While some gaming markets in Asia like Macau and Cambodia are gearing up for a recovery, the near-term outlook for Singapore, and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) specifically, remains cloudy”.

Genting Singapore has recently revealed a SGD163.3-million (US$119.2 million) net loss for the second quarter, compared to net profit of about SGD168.4 million in the same period in 2019. The company qualified the situation as the “worst quarterly performance since the opening” of the Resorts World Sentosa complex in January 2010.

Mr DeCree wrote: “Currently, Resorts World Sentosa is operating at 50 per cent capacity due to social distancing procedures. Further, the casino operators are only allowed to welcome existing loyalty club members with restrictions on issuing new memberships, which is limiting local visitation and one of the reasons we are cautious on any near-term recovery right now”.

He concluded: “We are not expecting any meaningful recovery until international travel across Asia begins to resume more freely, which is still likely several quarters away.”