Genting Reports Q1 Profits Double as Company Sees Gaming on the Rise

Global casino conglomerate Genting Malaysia is waking from its slumber, according to its most recent public financial report.

Results from Q1 2017 showed significant growth, which has the company bullish on its prospects for prospering as the entire gaming industry seems to be on the rise.

Genting’s net profits doubled in the first three months this year compared to the same period in 2016. Last year the figure was $37.7 million compared to $75.5 million in 2017.

The company attributed much of that growth simply to shifts in foreign exchanges. The company owns casino resort properties in the US, UK, Singapore, China, Philippines, Caribbean, South Korea, and Malaysia.

Total revenue, however, grew minimally year over year, with $5.16 billion in income in 2016 growing to only $5.18 billion this year.

Revenues from the properties in Malaysia, New York, and the Bahamas all rose and contributed to the increase.

“The operating environment for the regional gaming market has shown signs of recovery, as evidenced by the recent reported improved performance of regional gaming operators in Singapore and Macau,” a company official said in a statement. “Notwithstanding this, the regional gaming market is expected to face continuous challenges in the Asian premium players business.”

The report also noted the Genting Integrated Tourism Plan (GITP), unveiled in 2013, is nearing completion and ready to start generating revenue later this year.

This project includes a 6,000-square-foot shopping plaza and theme park, slated to open by the end of the year at the Genting Highlands in Malaysia.

Company executives said that in March, construction on Resorts World Las Vegas resumed, after being stalled for more than year, and is expected to open sometime in 2019.

Genting has also expanded its reach, and profits, through Genting Dream Cruises. The company now has two 3,300-passenger ships, the Genting Dream and World Dream, sailing to ports in Malaysia and Japan.

The in April coincided with Genting’s application for one of two available licenses Japan intends to award for future construction of of the country’s first integrated casino resorts.

Also in April, Miami-Dade county commissioners approved atop a major bus terminal in downtown Miami. Though operable as a luxury non-gaming hotel, the property will also make for a solid foothold should Florida law change and future casino licenses became available.

Genting is investing in the future here, having paid $236 million for the former Miami Herald building and $185 million for the adjacent Omni hotel and retail complex in 2011.