Genting’s New York casino in RM1.71bil expansion
Programme scheduled to be completed in mid-2019
PETALING JAYA: Genting Group’s Resorts World Casino New York City has broken ground on a US$400mil (RM1.71bil) expansion, bringing its total investment to over US$1.1bil since its opening in 2011.
In a statement, Resorts World Casino New York City said the project was estimated to generate US$200mil in economic activity for New York, add about 1,000 good-paying careers for New Yorkers, along with about 3,000 construction jobs and thousands of indirect jobs, and provide additional revenue for New York State’s Lottery Education Fund.
Resorts World Casino New York said the expansion was scheduled to be completed in mid-2019.
The expansion included a new 400-room four-star hotel with fivestar suites, four new dining outlets, several retail offerings, space to accommodate additional new gaming and a completely new arrival experience for guests.
“We are incredibly excited to break ground on this extraordinary project, which will welcome visitors from around the world to enjoy the ultimate play, stay, dine and shop experience right here in Queens,” Resorts World Casino New York City president Scott Molina said.
“The expansion will serve as an economic engine for our local community and the state, create more good-paying jobs for local residents, and generate significant revenue for New York State’s Lottery Education Fund,” he said.
The group said the expansion had “long been a part of parent company Genting’s vision of bringing an integrated resort”, popular in global destinations such as Las Vegas and Macau to New York City.
“This expansion project will bring the total investment at Resorts World Casino New York City to over US$1.1bil since opening in October 2011 after the company spent over US$700mil to retrofit the existing Aqueduct grandstand to become a leading entertainment destination,” it said.
According to Bloomberg, Genting’s Resorts World New York City generates plenty of proceeds.
Last year it had gaming revenue of US$826.5mil, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, 13% more than Atlantic City’s biggest casino, MGM Resorts International’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, and 26% more than the casino revenue of Wynn Resorts Ltd’s flagship Las Vegas property.
Resorts World pays 70% of the casino’s gross to New York State, according to the company, or a total of more than US$1.9bil to New York’s Lottery Education Fund since opening in 2011.
Separately, Genting Hong Kong Ltd said it has disposed of the remaining stake in Australia-listed Star Entertainment in a block trade for A$235.2mil.
In a filing with the Hong Kong Exchanges, Genting Hong Kong said the sale was carried out through UBS AG and the stake of 5.62% in Star Entertainment were held by its wholly owned subsidi- ary Cheer Century Ltd.
Genting HK is expected to gain US$67.5mil from the sale and from an earlier disposal.
“The board considers the transaction to be a good opportunity for the group to realise a gain from the disposal of its investment in Star Entertainment.
“The board believes that the terms of the transaction are fair and reasonable and in the interests of the company and its shareholders as a whole,” Genting HK said.
Genting Bhd’s share price closed 31 sen higher to RM9.55 yesterday and pushed the FBM KLCI up 2.01 points. Genting Malaysia Bhd added four sen to RM5.74.