Genting Stocks Soar as Singapore Gaming Licence Gets the Green Card

Genting Singapore has received a casino licence for Resorts World Sentosa, opening the way for the business group to open its casino before the potentially lucrative Lunar New Year celebrations in mid-February.

Genting is Asia’s largest publicly-traded casino operator and stock in its Singapore unit rose dramatically after they received a casino license from the Singapore government, allowing their resort to tap the holiday crowd.

“It’s show time,” ECM Libra Capital said in a report today. Opening a week before the Lunar New Year holidays that start Feb. 14 will allow Genting “to capture the higher margin mass market.”

Genting Singapore's shares rose as much as 5.4 percent before paring gains to S$1.12, after they resumed trade on Monday.

Genting’s $4.5 billion resort on Singapore’s Sentosa Island is part of the city-state’s plan to lure 17 million visitors, as well as 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 Corporation who won’t be opening its gaming resort in downtown Singapore until April, at the earliest.

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.