The proposed legalization of casinos in Thailand divert Chinese mass-market gamblers away from Singapore and undermine multibillion-dollar expansion plans by Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), according to Maybank Investment Bank. The Genting Singapore property, one of two integrated resorts (IRs) in Singapore, will invest SG$4.5 billion (US$3.3 billion) to expand and improve the IRs.
Maybank analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang warned that Thai casinos could have a significant impact on RWS, which reaped about a third of its 2019 mass-market GGR from Chinese players.
“Even without IRs, a whopping 11 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2019” and 3.6 million visited Singapore, he said. “Should Thailand IRs materialize, we would wonder how financially viable the SG$4.5 billion RWS 2.0 expansion will be.”
All the same, Yin has raised his earnings forecast for Genting Singapore by 163 percent for 2022 and 123 percent for 2023, reported Inside Asian Gaming. He cited a “discernible rise in tourists in Singapore” since the recent reopening of borders and end of Covid-19 testing requirements for visitors.
The gaming duopoly held by RWS and Marina Bay Sands, a Las Vegas Sands resort, was recently extended through 2030. The operators have agreed to invest billions in improvements, additions and renovations to their resorts as part of their deal with the local government.
