KUALA LUMPUR: Genting Bhd's 52.7 per cent subsidiary, Genting Singapore (GENS), reported first-half 2024 (1H24) results that met market consensus and Public Investment Bank Bhd's (PublicInvest Research) forecasts, hitting 30 per cent and 32 pe rcent of their respective estimates.
Its net profit increased 29 per cent year-on-year to $356.9 million due to a recovery in global flight connectivity, which resulted in stronger visitor arrivals into Singapore.
PublicInvest Research reintroduced its financial year 2024 (FY24)-FY25 earnings forecasts on GENS following a temporary suspension of coverage, with no major adjustment to its estimates pending the release of the group's second quarter results on August 29.
It said Resort World Sentosa should continue to benefit from higher visitation and tourism activities, particularly after the relaxation of visa regulations between China and Singapore that took effect in February 2024.
"Although Chinese tourists entering Singapore have been rising gradually, it hasn't rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.
"In 2023, Singapore received 1.36 million Chinese tourists, which was only 38 per cent of 2019 or 10 per cent of total tourist arrivals for the year. Fortunately, this has recovered to 18 per cent year to date, though total arrivals remain below 2019," it said.
Singapore Tourism Board is forecasting total arrivals of 15-16.5 million in 2024, a growth of 15-26 per cent YoY.
"This should augur well for GENS, which we estimate to account for about 40 per cent of the group's total adjusted eBITDA," it added.
The firm maintained an "outperform" call on Genting