Leisure & Resorts World acquires 35% of online gaming firm in Cagayan ecozone

Hotel and recreation firm Leisure & Resorts World Corp. (LRWC) has acquired 35 percent of First Cagayan Leisure & Resorts Corp. for P4.38 million.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, LRWC said it has acquired 43,750 shares of First Cagayan from Alfredo Benitez, a director of LRWC and president of AB Leisure Exponent Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of LRWC.

The remaining 65 percent of First Cagayan is owned by Regina Mendoza.

First Cagayan has an existing license to develop, operate and conduct Internet and gaming enterprises and facilities in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport.

As of June 2005, First Cagayan has issued a total of nine interactive gaming licenses, of which six are already operating.

LRWC posted a consolidated net income of P18.5 million in the second quarter, up from P10.1 million the previous year-end.

The traditional bingo games remain the company’s principal product line with first semester sales of P1.12 billion or an 83.6-percent contribution to total sales. AB Leisure currently operates 32 bingo parlors.

But growth in revenues from the traditional bingo game is limited as it attracts a narrow segment of the market composed of those who like to play programmed games at regular intervals. Thus, increase in sales is due mainly to improved sales performance and the opening of new sites.

Sales increase faster with new gaming products that are played with higher frequency and are not time bound as the traditional bingo games. Thus, AB Leisure expanded its game offerings to a variety of game products that could be played simultaneously with the programmed bingo games. These products include e-bingo, scratch cards and games via the Internet.

By end June 2005, AB Leisure had a total of 744 E-bingo machines in 21 bingo parlors compared with 642 e-bingo machines in 20 bingo parlors last year.

AB Leisure’s target for the year is to install 200 more machines in eight bingo parlors by the end of the year.

Management also plans to operate 944 e-bingo machines in 31 bingo parlors by the end of the year. This is estimated to generate total sales of P634 million from e-bingo operations.

It also intends to launch a new product, Rapid Bingo within the third quarter of the year.