SINGAPORE – Talk of a rival casino complex being built just across the Causeway in Malaysia sent Genting Singapore shares on a wild ride on April 25 before closing the day with a modest loss.

Investors were galvanised by the casino talk and traded around 11 million shares early in the session, driving the stock down four cents to 90 cents at one point. The counter clawed back some ground to close at 92 cents, down 2.1 per cent on the day, with 74.8 million shares done.

That was the second-highest number of Genting shares transacted in 2024, next to the 143.6 million shares that changed hands on Feb 22, a day after the gaming company released stellar results for the 2023 financial year.

The trading frenzy on April 25 was triggered by a Bloomberg report citing sources saying that Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had supposedly met a couple of tycoons last week, and mulled over plans to set up a casino in Forest City, about 20 minutes from the Second Link.

A new casino would be a major competitor to Genting Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa complex here.

Datuk Seri Anwar later refuted the report, reportedly saying: “Not true, not true. Casino licence… That’s a lie.”

Separately, sources with knowledge of the discussions told The Straits Times that such a development was among proposals for the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, an integrated commercial and investment hub to ease movement of goods and people between the two countries.

Bloomberg had reported that the tycoons who spoke to the Malaysian Prime Minister were Berjaya founder Vincent Tan and Genting Group chief Lim Kok Thay. Johor Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar was also reported to have been at the meeting.

“They talked, but nothing has been formalised,” one of the sources told ST.

Genting controls Malaysia’s only casino and operates Resorts World Sentosa, one of the two integrated resorts here.