New casino taxes hit Genting Singapore H1 earnings

August 16, 2022 Singapore Earnings & Filings Industry Updates

Genting Singapore – operator of Resorts World Senotsa – said that higher utility tariffs and increased casino tax rates under a new regulatory regime meant its profit declined, even though revenue increased in H1.

The business reported revenue of S$663.1m (£399.3m/€472.2m/US$481.8m) for the half-year, up by 19.5% year-on-year.

Gaming brought in S$475.2m, up by 7.5%. Hotel room revenue was S$63.6m, while revenue from attractions more than doubled to S$69.7m and other non-gaming sources contributed S$43.6m.

The Genting Singapore board said the recovery came thanks to high demand for casino gaming following the impact of Covid-19, which was enough to make up for continuing challenges in international travel.

“While international tourism visitorship remained significantly below pre-pandemic levels due to limited flight capacity, extraordinarily high airfares and varying reopening protocols by our regional markets, the group has benefited from pent-up demand and made good progress towards recovery in the first half of 2022,” it said.

Rental income contributed a further S$6.7m, though this was the only segment where revenue declined, while hospitality and support services brought in S$4.4m, after minimal revenue in 2021.

However, while revenue rose, costs of sales – which include gambling taxes – grew faster, by 33.4% to S$463.0m. The new taxes came as part of an overhaul to the gaming industry in Singapore, which also included the launch of a new regulator and new definitions of illegal gambling.

As a result, Genting’s gross profit declined by 3.8% to S$200.1m.