Stock News: Genting gains on casino hope!

Genting International was higher on hopes that the consortium led by the company will win the bidding to build a casino resort on Sentosa island here, dealers said. At 9.24 am, Genting International stock was up 0.025 sgd or 6.49 pct at 0.41, with 17.42 mln shares traded. The Straits Times Index was up 1.72 points or 0.061 pct to 2,837.76. Six out of seven analysts polled by XFN-Asia predict that the consortium of Genting International and Star Cruises Ltd will win the bidding to build the casino resort on Sentosa. Analysts said victory would be a strong catalyst for Genting International's share price. OCBC Investment Research analyst Winston Liew said: "Looking at how it was traded since its IPO, it has not moved that much ahead of its IPO price. On that basis, one can argue that not that much has been factored-in." He said that if the Genting International consortium won the bidding, Genting International's share price could easily double. CIMB-GK analyst Steven Tan said Genting International would trade close to 0.50 sgd if it won the bidding.