KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Genting Malaysia Bhd's (GENM) net profit dropped 65.2% to RM193.37 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (3QFY17) from RM555.73 million a year ago, mainly due to lower adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation from the leisure and hospitality business in Malaysia.

The decline in net profit was also due to a reversal of previously recognised impairment losses of RM49.2 million from the UK operations and recognition of a one-off gain of RM43.6 million from the disposal of leasehold land in Malaysia in 3QFY16.

Earnings per share also fell to 3.41 sen from 9.82 sen.

Quarterly revenue, however, rose 3.2% to RM2.27 billion in 3QFY17 from RM2.2 billion in the previous year, mainly contributed by the casino business in the UK and the leisure and hospitality business in the US and Bahamas.

The weak third-quarter earnings hit the group's net profit for the nine months ended Sept 30, 2017 (9MFY17), which fell 40.5% to RM710.31 million from RM1.19 billion a year ago. Revenue rose 2% to RM6.78 billion from RM6.65 billion in 9MFY16.

On prospects, GENM said it remains optimistic on the growth potential of the leisure and hospitality industry in the medium to long term.

It added that the regional gaming industry remains promising as evidenced by the continued improvements in performances recently reported by gaming operators in Macau and Singapore.

"In Malaysia, the group remains focused on the development of Genting Integrated Tourism Plan (GITP) at Resorts World Genting (RWG) as it prepares to roll out the much anticipated 20th Century Fox World Theme Park, as well as the new indoor theme park next year," GENM said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

"With the recent additions under GITP that complement the existing attractions at RWG, the group will focus on optimising overall operational efficiencies and driving revenue growth," it added.

GENM shares closed up 4 sen or 0.79% to RM5.10 today, for a market capitalisation of RM28.9 billion.