Stock News: Genting Int hot favourite to win sentosa IR!

Genting International and its partner Star Cruises stand a better chance of winning the licence for the second casino/resort project on Sentosa Island, CIMB-GK Research said in a note to clients. Genting/Star Cruises along with CapitaLand/MGM Mirage and Keppel Land/Harrahs lost out on the bidding for the first casino licence at Marina Bay which was awarded to Las Vegas Sands. "We believe that Las Vegas Sands' win is a much bigger blow for CapitaLand and Keppel Land, simply because Genting International had been considered an outsider (for the Marina Bay licence) from day one," CIMB-GK analyst Steven Tan said. "The fact, that the Singapore government selected Las Vegas Sands is a clear indication that the merits of the proposal in achieving the desired economic and tourism objectives far outweigh political connections," Tan said. Both CapitaLand and Keppel Land, which are controlled by state-linked Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings, had been seen as strong contenders for both projects. "In view of this scenario, it appears that Genting/Star Cruises would have a better chance to win the Sentosa project as it presently appears to have the most compelling proposal on paper given its exclusive tie-up with Universal Studios," CIMB-GK said. "It was previously thought that Genting's chances could be marginalized by its Malaysian connections, but this may be a less contentious issue going by the latest developments, which suggest that a proposals merits are top priority," it added. At 9.52 am, Genting International was up 0.005 sgd or 1.49 pct at 0.34 with 1.26 mln shares traded, while Star Cruises was down 0.015 usd or 6.67 pct at 0.21 with 414,000 shares traded.