SINGAPORE (Feb 25): Shares of Genting Singapore tumbled to their lowest in almost five years in early trading on disappointment with its 4Q2014 results.
The stock opened 4.8% lower at 99 cents and sank to as low as 97.5 cents, a level last reached in May 2010.
At 9:21am (0121 GMT), the shares were 6.2% lower at 98 cents, with more than 36 million shares traded.
"4Q14 was the worst quarter on record," Maybank Kim Eng analyst Yin Shao Yang wrote in a note today.
Genting Singapore's gaming revenue during the quarter fell 9% y-o-y and 3% q-o-q to $461.3 million.
Ebitda, excluding fair-value changes, declined 24% y-o-y and 25% q-o-q to $190.2 million, with its premium-player market segment hurt by a sharply lower win percentage and rolling volume.
"We attribute this to management’s increasingly cautious stance on credit extension to contain further pressure on its impairment on receivables," OSK DMG analysts said in a note.
Mindful of the slowdown in business from high rollers, the gaming group is stepping up efforts to target the mass-market segment.
"The VIP business is expected to remain challenging in 2015, with bad debt provisions staying high over the next two to three quarters," CIMB analysts Jessalyn Chen and Kenneth Ng said.