Business

Friday November 6, 2009

Genting: Sentosa resort on track to open in Jan


KUALA LUMPUR: Genting Bhd has ruled out speculation that its integrated resort, Resorts World at Sentosa, will open earlier than its January deadline.

Chairman and chief executive Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay said the company was “on track” to opening the resort in Singapore in January.

“We started during a difficult part of the (economic) crisis in terms of funding needs and labour. In the worst case scenerio we were planning to open in December 2010. But construction has gone on smoothly. Our next target was first quarter 2010. But now we are refining it to January 2010,” he said.

The S$6.6bil project was expected to attract 12 million to 13 million visitors in the first full year of operation, he told reporters yesterday after the company inked an agreement with CIMB Investment Bank Bhd and HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd for its RM1.6bil medium-term notes (MTN) programme.

(From left) Genting Bhd deputy chairman Tun Hanif Omar, Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, CIMB Bank group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Razak and HSBC Bank deputy chairman and CEO Irene Dorner with a mockup Genting propectus after signing ceremony.

Lim said that proceeds from the MTN would be used by the company and its subsidiaries for investment, refinancing, working capital requirements and/or other general corporate purposes.

“We originally targeted to raise RM900mil as the first tranche issue under the MTN programme. Due to strong response, we successfully upsized the first tranche issue to RM1.45bil, representing around 1.6 times the initial size,” he said.

The MTN programme, the country’s largest 10-year corporate bond issuance, is guaranteed by Genting and carries a AAA rating by RAM Ratings Services Bhd.

CIMB Investment Bank and HSBC Bank are the joint lead arrangers and joint book runners for the MTN programme.

Meanwhile, Lim said Genting unit Genting Plantations Bhd’s Johor Premium Outlet in Kulai, Johor, was slated to open by July 2011.

Lim also said he was speaking to potential parties on disposing of its non-core asset in the power and oil and gas divisions, “but we are not anywhere close to any transaction.”

“These are still excellent assets to keep. We will sell them only at the right price,” he said.


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