This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 8, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Genting Malaysia Bhd, whose shares have been hammered since the government announced last Friday the revision of certain gaming licence fees and casino duties, said yesterday it is assessing the full implication of the additional taxes on the company.

It will also take appropriate “next course of action which includes a review of its marketing expenditure and cost structure to mitigate the impact of the tax increases”, it stated in a stock exchange filing.

Genting Malaysia said it has been advised by the ministry of finance that the casino licence fee will be revised from RM120 million to RM150 million per annum, while the casino duties will be revised up to 35%.

“The increase in casino duties represents a 10-percentage point increase over existing duty rates. The amendment will take effect from Jan 1, 2019,” Genting Malaysia added.

In the Budget 2019 that was tabled last Friday, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng also said gaming machine duties will be increased from 20% to 30% on gross collection, while machine dealer’s licence fees will be raised from RM10,000 to RM50,000 per annum.

Genting Malaysia’s shares closed 20.5% or 93 sen lower at its three-year-low of RM3.61 on Monday, as it recovered some lost ground after tumbling by as much as 43% earlier in the day.

The stock gained three sen or 0.83% to settle at RM3.64 yesterday, for a market capitalisation of RM20.64 billion. Year to date, the stock has lost about 33%.