Resorts World to expand gaming activity

MANILA, Philippines - Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. has secured the Philippine gaming regulator’s approval to substantially expand the gaming segment in its integrated casino project.

In a regulatory filing, Travellers Group said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) allowed the new gaming capacity for Resorts World Manila.

Given the approval, Resorts World Manila can now offer as much as 420 gaming tables and 4,148 gaming machines. Shares of Travellers Group rallied 3.9 percent or 37 centavos to close at P9.85 each yesterday.

As of end-2013, the Travellers Group had 287 gaming tables, unchanged from a year ago. Slot machines rose to 1,822 last year from 1,684, while electronic table game machines more than doubled to 210 from 100.

“PAGCOR likewise confirmed that the company has achieved 100-percent compliance with the 2011 PAGCOR Development Guidelines,” Travellers Group said.

Foreign exchange losses and higher operating expenses of integrated casino Resorts World Manila dragged down the 2013 net income of Travellers Group.

Its profits sank nearly 60 percent to P2.73 billion from P6.73 billion in the previous year as it booked P2.03 billion in finance costs related to its $300-million bond.

In November, Travellers Group debuted in the local bourse after raising P17.7 billion.

Travellers Group, a joint venture of the world’s third-largest cruise line operator Genting Hong Kong and local conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc. of property tycoon Andrew L. Tan, is spending around $600 million as it pursues Phase 2 and 3 of Resorts World Manila.

Specifically, the hotel and casino operator would complete the 5,000-seat convention center with function rooms in 2014, the Marriott Hotel expansion in 2015, and new hotels Hilton and Sheraton in 2016.

Phase 2 and 3 would allow Travellers Group to increase retail space by 60 percent and add 1,100 rooms to the existing 1,226 rooms in Resorts World Manila’s hotels Maxim’s, Marriott and Remington.