Genting Malaysia is hoping to finally open its long-awaited new theme park, Genting SkyWorlds, by Chinese New Year after missing its previously stated December 2021 launch date, according to Maybank RB analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang.
In a note, Yin said that Resorts World Genting (RWG) – which previously planned to launch Genting SkyWorlds on 10 December – had blamed a need to iron out software issues for the delay but was now pushing ahead for launch before the popular 1 February holiday period.
Nevertheless, the analyst described 4Q21 visitation to RWG as “robust and comparable to 3Q20 (4 million visitors),” due to Malaysia’s high vaccination rate and a decline in COVID-19 cases and deaths, which had led to greater consumer confidence.
He also believes Chinese New Year is shaping up as a strong one for RWG.
“The Google Mobility Retail & Recreation Index, which measures interest in retail and recreation relative to pre-COVID-19 times, indicates that Malaysians are a lot more comfortable outdoors today which is very positive for RWG,” Yin said.
“Google Trends, which measures search interest in a particular term, also indicates that RWG is ‘front of mind’ for many Malaysians during holidays if the Omicron variant is kept at bay.
“The upcoming Chinese New Year ought to be good for RWG.”
Maybank has maintained its buy rating on Genting Malaysia but has trimmed its target price slightly, with Yin revising down his expected FY21 net loss by 2% but also cutting back estimated net profit for 2022 and 2023 by between 5% and 6%.
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