Mass market in a stall
Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore recorded its second best quarter since 2010 last week, with property EBITDA of US$492 million, up 35 percent sequentially. But Morgan Stanley analysts say Genting Singapore will do even better, coming in at SG$270 million when it releases its 2Q results.
Inside Asian Gaming reports that the positive results for MBS were “somewhat misleading,” with a rolling chip win percentage of 4.42 percent. The analyst team of Praveen Choudhary, Alex Poon and Thomas Allen said on a hold-adjusted basis, MBS property EBITDA was down 1 percent sequentially to US$386 million “due to mass market failing to grow.”
If Genting Singapore comes in as expected for the three months to 30 June, it would represent a 6 percent sequential decline but a 119 percent jump year-on-year.
“Genting Singapore could do slightly better in mass compared to MBS, similar to 1Q17, as Genting Singapore has increased focus on the premium mass segment since 2016,” Morgan Stanley said. “While Genting Singapore remains cautious on granting credits, we expect VIP to surprise on the upside but bad debt provisions to remain under SG$20 million. We do not expect any interim dividend as last year’s was declared after 3Q16 results.
“Our 2017 and 2018 EBITDA estimates for Genting Singapore are 6 percent to 7 percent above consensus.”
