Genting plans a RM1.25 billion rights issue to cut debt

Updated October 13, 2026: the dated list is now a checklist of what the filing does and does not fix.

Does a RM1.25 billion rights issue change what Genting Berhad owes, or only who owns the equity? On October 9, 2026, the parent of Genting Malaysia filed with Bursa Malaysia for about RM1.25 billion, about US$306 million as The Business Times reported. It is the group's first rights issue. The shares closed at RM1.45 on October 12.

Shareholders fund it. Kien Huat Realty, private vehicle of executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, plus Kien Huat International and Datuk Indera Lim Keong Hui, undertook to take RM563.8 million, 45.1% of the proceeds, The Star reported. The price is unfixed. The discount is 25% to 30% to the theoretical ex-rights price, and the aim is completion in the first quarter of 2027 if an extraordinary general meeting agrees.

What the October 9 filing does, and does not, fix

Under The Edge's account of the filing, RM1.25 billion assumes an illustrative RM1.30 a share. The Star later said the final sum would be set after the meeting.

RM800 million, 64%, repays borrowings due within 12 months. RM429.5 million, 34.4%, is working capital. The Malaysian Reserve puts RM20.5 million on costs. At 5.16% on short-term borrowings as at June 30, 2026, yearly interest saved is about RM41.3 million. The Star gives the post-tax figure as RM31.4 million.

• Price and ratio: still unfixed. RM1.30 a share is The Edge's illustration, not a term.
• RM800 million: borrowings due within 12 months. It does not retire the RM45.25 billion.
• RM429.5 million: working capital. RM20.5 million: the costs.
• Completion: first quarter of 2027, and only if the meeting and Bursa agree.

A RM1.45 close, and two capitalisations

Shares fell 43 sen to RM1.45. The Edge called that 23%, the lowest close since April 2007. The Star measured 22.87%, a capitalisation of RM5.58 billion, and more than RM1.6 billion wiped. The Edge's market report said over RM2 billion was wiped, leaving a little under RM7 billion.

Those two October 12 capitalisations cannot both be the closing figure.

On October 9, The Edge had the group at RM7.29 billion, shares at RM1.88. At 10.32 a.m. on October 13 it put the capitalisation at RM5.74 billion, at RM1.48. That print sits with RM5.58 billion.

Genting Malaysia, 73.8% owned, fell 26 sen, or 17.45% on The Star's count, to RM1.23. A fund manager told The Star: "While the exercise may be financially prudent, the market is demanding greater discipline in capital management and clearer earnings visibility."

Intraday short selling in both names was suspended for the rest of October 12. The Star said it would lift on October 13.

Maybank's sell, and a dilution sketch that is not the terms

Maybank Investment Bank cut Genting to sell from buy on October 11, and the target to RM1.49 from RM2.88, The Star reported. The Edge counted four buys, seven holds and one sell, average target RM2.38.

One new share for every four, at RM1.30, is CIMB's sketch, not the filing. The Star said CIMB put the core-earnings hit at 17% to 18%, and net gearing at 94% from 102%, in 2027 and 2028. "Nobody likes a rights issue," CIMB Securities told The Edge. "While a rights issue does not mathematically destroy shareholders wealth, investors usually view such exercises negatively as it replaces cheaper debt with more expensive equity."

Non-subscribers own less of the company that controls Resorts World Genting. Nothing in the stated proceeds is marked for safer-gambling staff, or for the self-exclusion failures in a UK Gambling Commission fine at an adult gaming centre.

Borrowings the RM800 million does not retire

Borrowings were RM45.25 billion at June 30, 2026, The Edge said, against cash of RM17.64 billion. The Star's RM45.3 billion rounds that borrowings line.

Debt including leases was RM47.55 billion, The Malaysian Reserve said, gearing 0.51 times from 0.43 times. The Star on October 9 printed about RM47.5 billion and a path from 0.51 times to 0.46 times. CIMB's 102% to 94% is another net-gearing sketch.

The Malaysian Reserve tied the extra borrowings to financing for the Resorts World New York City licence and the build, as the slot expansion showed. CreditSights told The Edge on October 13 the cash call was only modest help, with a US$618 million bond due in January 2027.

Half-year profit was RM74 million. The Reserve's 70.2% fall matches MarketWatch's drop from RM248.1 million. Its 174% line does not.

Fitch cut Genting and Genting Malaysia to BBB- from BBB in September, outlook stable. The Star reported that September cut on October 13 and noted a June-quarter loss with no amount. For 2025 the Reserve reported a net loss of RM11.6 million, after profit of RM883 million in 2024. RM800 million does not retire RM45.25 billion.

"We note that Genting has been trying to refinance its borrowings to longer dated ones. This exercise concerns us because it signals to us that Genting probably has limited success in doing so," Maybank Investment Bank Research said in its October 11 report, The Star reported.

This article is informational analysis only and is not gambling or financial advice. Figures are as attributed in the text.

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