Genting Bhd., Asia's largest publicly-traded casino operator, and its Singapore unit rose after they received a casino license from the Singapore government, allowing their resort to tap the holiday crowd.
Genting gained 0.9 percent to 6.84 ringgit at 10:55 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur trading, set for its steepest gain since January 15. Its unit Genting Singapore Plc advanced 1.8 percent to S$1.13 in Singapore trading, the highest since January 25, after surging 5.4 percent earlier.
"It's show time," ECM Libra Capital Sdn. said in a report today. Opening a week before the Lunar New Year holidays that start February 14 will allow Genting "to capture the higher margin mass market," it said.
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| In this photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, men walk past Singapore's first casino which is under renovation in Singapore. Singapore regulators said Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010, they issued Resorts World Sentosa a license to operate the city-state's first casino.
(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) |
Genting's $4.5 billion resort on Singapore's Sentosa island is part of the city-state's plan to lure 17 million visitors and triple annual tourism revenue to S$30 billion ($21 billion) by 2015. The license will also give Genting a head start as its rival Las Vegas Sands Corp. won't open its gaming resort in downtown Singapore until April.
Genting "will take the lion's share of the Singaporean gaming market which we value at S$4 billion," ECM said. Singapore awarded two sites for casino resorts and agreed to hold off new competition for at least 10 years.
Four hotels and 10 restaurants at Genting's Singapore resort began accepting guests on January 20.
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