MGM Resorts International has retained the “buy” tag given to them by analysts in Macau. Deutsche Bank analysts Carlo Santarelli and Kelly Knybel reiterated the rating following the company results earlier this week. “We continue to believe the 2012 recovery story is intact,” the two wrote in an investor’s note. “Our US$16 (MOP128) price target remains unchanged.”
The group’s MGM China venture didn’t get off scot-free. The same analysts dimmed their future projections on the firm for 2012 and 2013 due to “difficult hold comparison” and “elevated competition.”
Company chairman Jim Murren followed up giving US online poker a leg-up by projecting Macau will reach US$50billion in yearly gaming industry revenue by 2017. He told an interview with CNBC: I think it’s going to be over a USD 50 billion market four or five years from now.”
Boy do they need it to be too. They’re hoping to spend $2.5bn on a property in Cotai, if approved, and will need all the will in the world to see off competition in the region.
Genting Singapore posted a fourth quarter profit to dispel the gloom that shrouded the same quarter last year. One of the two company’s to operate a casino business in Singapore posted profits of S$262m ($209m) comparing favorably with a loss of S$150.3m in Q4 2010. Much of the improvement came from its integrated Resorts World Sentosa location. Although gaming revenue for the business was down, revenues from other parts of the location were up 16% and according to Reuters the firm will be “looking to invest in new projects.”
Police in Singapore have arrested a woman in connection with a S$20,000 theft at Genting’s casino in Singapore. The Strait Times report the 30-year-old Malaysian woman was detained after she stole the cash from a man after befriending him at Resorts World Sentosa. If guilty the offence carries a prison terms of seven year plus a substantial fine.
