KUALA LUMPUR (June 10): Genting Malaysia Bhd will continue to review investment opportunities both locally and abroad, despite failing to secure a second casino licence in upstate New York last year.

“Currently, we will continue our focus on the existing Resort World Casino New York City. We also expect to cut labour cost and bring in more automated machines. The operation is expected to start benefitting from these operational efficiencies next year,” its chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay told Genting Malaysia shareholders at the annual general meeting today.

The gaming group had submitted two bids to operate casino resorts in Orange county in June last year, but had failed to secure the licences from the New York Gaming Facility Location Board.

Lim also said the weakening ringgit has an impact on its US dollar-denominated borrowings, thus weighing on overall investment cost.

The ringgit fell to a nine-year low of 3.7738 against the US dollar on Monday (June 8), but has recovered slightly to 3.735 today.

Nevertheless, Lim said Genting Malaysia is also expected to benefit from the weaker local currency, as it will make the country more attractive for foreign tourists to spend here.

“Our 20th Century Fox World theme park is expected to complete in 2016. The group remains positive (about its financial performance) going forward, as the weaker currency would make it more attractive for tourists to spend here,” he added.

Asked to comment on the slowdown of its gaming revenue, Lim blamed it on weaker luck factor.

Genting Malaysia saw its Malaysia leisure and hospitality revenue for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2014 (FY14) fall 4.3% to RM5.44 billion, from RM5.69 billion in FY13.

As at 3:01pm, Genting Malaysia (fundamental: 2.4; valuation: 0.8) shares appreciated two sen or 0.47% to RM4.24 per share, with 1.52 million shares done. It has a market capitalisation of RM23.93 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)