Belle Grande on track to open by mid-2014

MANILA, Philippines - The local unit of Macau-based casino giant Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. is on track to starting commercial operations of its $1.3-billion integrated casino complex in Parañaque in the middle of 2014.

The megacasino is banking on Chinese high rollers to prop up the country’s gaming revenues despite uncertainties over taxation issues, a company official said.

“We are still on target. Our opening date will be mid-2014,” Clarence Chung, president and chairman of Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp., told reporters.

“We are moving full steam in terms of doing the fit-out. It will be one of the best casino and hotel in town when it opens,” he said.

Melco Philippines is the operator of the 950-room Belle Grande Manila casino and resort complex being built by Belle Corp., the upscale leisure developer of mall and banking conglomerate SM Investments Corp.

Belle Grande Manila will be the second casino  to open in Entertainment City, next to the $1.2-billion Solaire Resort and Casino of port magnate Enrique Razon that opened in March.

“The Philippines is quite central in Asia. We are targeting the Southeast Asian customers with some focus on the China market,” Chung said.

Belle Grande Manila will have 240 gaming tables and 1,250 machines. Chung said a portion of the gaming area will be dedicated to high rollers or VIPs.

“We are the only Macau-based operator (and we) indeed have our connections and database of the VIPs,” Chung said.

At the same time, Melco Crown is hoping for a resolution of a tax issue between gaming firms and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

“We are in active discussions with Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) on how we can resolve this issue and obviously Pagcor is very proactive in terms of discussion with us for a solution,” Chung said.

In April, BIR issued a memorandum circular stating that Pagcor and casino license holders are subject to the 30 percent income tax instead of the five percent franchise tax on their gross gaming revenue.

This prompted investors to worry that that earnings of integrated casino developers will decline given the new tax ruling, which comes at a time when the Philippines’ gaming industry is set to fly through the Entertainment City.

Belle Grande Manila will be Melco Crown’s first casino outside Macau where it operates the City of Dreams and Altira Macau casinos. The company is developing its third casino, Studio City, which is slated for opening in 2015.

In April, Melco Philippines raised $377 million after selling 1.09 billion shares at P14 each, the high end of the P11-14 price range to fund the casino’s construction.

The government is grooming Pagcor’s  120-hectare Entertainment City along Manila Bay as a competitor of the Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau gaming hubs.