Business

Friday November 28, 2008

Genting posts third-quarter loss on British casino provisions

By C. S. TAN


PETALING JAYA: Genting Bhd reported yesterday a net loss of RM40.4mil in its third quarter ended Sept 30, largely due to losses arising from impairment in the values of its casinos in Britain and power assets in China.

Excluding impairment losses and exceptional gains, the group made a lower gross profit of RM828.4mil against RM924.5mil in the previous corresponding period, mainly due to a drop in profit in its power division.

The impairment loss for the British casinos is not a surprise as Genting International plc, a subsidiary listed in Singapore, had earlier announced the impairment loss in Genting Stanley which owns the casinos.

The Genting group had bought the casinos before Britain went into a recession.

Genting said Genting International recognised an impairment loss of RM236mil in the quarter under review on goodwill arising from its acquisition of Genting Stanley. The economic slowdown in Britain adversely affected business volume in the casinos, it added.

In addition, the group’s power plants in China were tested for impairment. Genting said an impairment loss of RM55.2mil was recognised after assessing its Meizhou Wan power plant’s future cashflows.

The power division’s pre-tax profit fell to RM5.5mil in the third quarter compared with RM123mil in the previous corresponding quarter, due to higher coal prices which could not fully recover from its offtaker.

Genting’s largest division, leisure and hospitality, produced a pre-tax profit of RM502mil, about 4% lower than in the previous corresponding period.

Plantations contributed a pre-tax profit of RM131mil, the same as a year ago while the oil and gas division made a pre-tax profit of RM15mil, about 50% higher than before. The property division recorded a pre-tax profit of RM8.5mil, about 90% higher than before. Genting stated a loss per share of 1.1 sen for the third quarter compared with earnings per share (EPS) of 7.7 sen previously.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, Genting made a net profit of RM690mil attributable to its equity holders compared with RM1.47bil in the previous corresponding quarter which included some exceptional gains.

Genting held cash and short-term investments totalling RM9.3bil at the end of the last quarter compared with RM9.6bil before, excluding long-term borrowings.


GENTING : [Stock Watch] [News]


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