Genting Bhd sees higher ESG score under Maybank’s rating system

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd says it has raised its proprietary environmental, social and governance (ESG) score for Genting Bhd, the parent of the Malaysia based casino resorts and plantations conglomerate, to 50, from 48. That was “largely thanks to lower resource consumption intensity, more generous community investments, higher percentage of procurement sources from local suppliers and higher average training hours per employee,” stated Maybank in a November 5 note. It said the report was based on data for 2025. The institution said, however, that there had been “very little progress on independent directors, female directors, and board of directors salaries”. Maybank noted that under the ‘environmental’ heading, Genting Bhd’s total greenhouse gas emissions “grew 9 percent year-on-year largely due to inclusion of its U.S. and Bahamas operations in financial year 2025, rather than higher emissions from its existing operations”. For the ‘social’ heading, community investments as a percentage of core net profit “jumped to 5.5 percent from 2.3 percent in financial year 2024,” said Maybank. It added: “On an absolute basis, community investments jumped to MYR31.4 million [US$7.8 million currently] from MYR12.1 million in financial year 2024.” Nonetheless, for ‘governance’ there was “not much progress,” said Maybank. The institution stated: “Independent directors and female directors continue to account for only 33 percent and 22 percent of the board of directors respectively, below the 50 percent and 30 percent threshold recommended by the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance respectively.” The board salary bill “continues to account for a high 14 percent of core net profit,” Maybank observed. Per the bank’s corporate materials, its ESG scoring model evaluates companies based on a weighted average of three core parameters. One is quantitative (50 percent), for numerical performance and metrics such as carbon emissions data of the type measured under the Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 protocols. The second is qualitative (25 percent), for assessment of management quality, policies, and operational practices. The third is ESG targets (25 percent), for future goals and commitments set by the company being assessed.