Genting Malaysia BHD investors are in for a celebration despite seeing a drop in the casino operator’s 2017 profit.
In a disclosure to Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday, Genting Malaysia announced that its fourth quarter profit plunged 74.5 percent to MYR449.4 million (US$114.47 million) from MYR1.69 billion ($430.49 million) in 2016.
The company attributed the lower fourth quarter revenue to the casino operator’s higher impairment losses.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of its UK and Egypt operations climbed more than 100 percent to MYR63.8 million ($16.25 million) in the fourth quarter.
Lower revenues at Resorts World Casino New York City sent the adjusted EBITDA of Genting Malaysia’s U.S. and Bahamas operations sliding 56 percent to MYR38.1 million ($9.7 million) in Q4.
Genting Malaysia, however, pointed out that Resorts World Bimini in the Bahamas had seen “narrowing losses driven by lower operating costs as a result of ongoing cost rationalization.”
For the whole 2017, Genting Malaysia reported that its profit plunged 59.7 percent to MYR1.16 billion ($295.49 million) compared to the MYR2.88 billion ($733.62 million) in 2016.
The profit drop, however, didn’t stop Genting Malaysia’s generosity as it announced a special single-tier dividend of MYR0.08 ($0.02) per ordinary share, on top of a final single-tier dividend of MYR0.05 ($0.01) per ordinary share.
Meanwhile, Genting Malaysia’s parent company Genting BHD also saw its profit plunge 75.3 percent to MYR590.2 million ($150.34 million) in Q4, while its full-year 2017 profit dropped 27.6 percent to MYR3.24 billion ($825.33 million).
The parent company attributed the profit slump to the “impairment loss on the group’s investment in a life sciences associated company which is in the process of being wound up.”
It also took into account the one-off gain from a disposal of some Genting Hong Kong shares in 2016.
As consolation for investors, Genting Malaysia announced a record high dividend of MYR0.07 ($0.02) per share, on top of a final dividend of MYR0.06 ($0.02) for the twelve months ending December 31, 2017.
Should shareholders green light the final dividend, the total dividend for full-year 2017 will be MYR0.215 ($0.05) per share.
