KUALA LUMPUR (April 24): Shares in Genting Bhd (KL:GENTING) and Genting Malaysia Bhd (KL:GENM) rose more than 6% on Friday, extending their weekly gains amid renewed investor interest driven by the upcoming launch of live table games at Resorts World New York City (RWNYC) as well as a potential index rebalancing.
Genting Malaysia’s wholly-owned RWNYC is set to begin live table-game operations on April 28, marking the first such offering in downstate New York and a key step towards its planned upgrade into a full-scale casino resort.
Located in Queens, RWNYC will introduce 200 live gaming tables, including blackjack, craps, baccarat and roulette on its renovated third floor, expanding beyond its current electronic gaming format.
Malacca Securities head of research Loui Low said the recent rally reflects a technical rebound, with both counters previously oversold and now showing signs of a breakout.
Shares of Genting and Genting Malaysia have been on a downtrend since Genting’s failed privatisation bid for Genting Malaysia last December.
After falling to a 23-year low of RM2.21 in late March, Genting shares have since rebounded more than 24% to RM2.75, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM10.66 billion. Throughout the week, the stock is up nearly 16%.
Meanwhile, Genting Malaysia shares rose 9.1% over the week, with a gain of 13.3% since the end-March low of RM1.80. Trading at RM2.04, the stock had a market capitalisation of RM12.11 billion.
Low added that speculation over Genting’s possible inclusion in an expanded FBM KLCI — should the index increase to 50 constituents from the current 30 — may also be supporting investor sentiment.
Genting Malaysia has previously said RWNYC could roll out a permanent casino with 4,000 slot machines and 250 gaming tables by June 2026, within six months of securing a licence, with a further 150 tables planned by January 2027.
This timeline would put RWNYC ahead of competing bidders Bally’s Corp and Hard Rock, which are not expected to commence operations until 2030 at the earliest.
Nomura has estimated that RWNYC could generate US$2.9 billion (RM13.8 billion) in gross gaming revenue by 2031, alongside earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of US$394 million, based on assumed tax rates and a 25% margin.
Separately, Maybank Investment Bank Research analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang forecast that net profit from the RWNYC expansion could peak at RM1.93 billion in 2030, before competition intensifies.
Bloomberg data shows Genting Malaysia trading at a forward enterprise value-to-Ebitda multiple of 6.7 times, while Genting’s stands at 6.1 times.
By comparison, regional peers Sands China Ltd trades at 9.1 times, Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd at 8.4 times, Wynn Macau Ltd at 8.1 times, MGM China Holdings Ltd at 6.3 times and NagaCorp Ltd at 4.5 times.