Bloomberry sustains profitability

MANILA, Philippines - Bloomberry Resorts Corp. posted a net income of P1.6 billion in the nine months ending September this year, a reversal of the P1.5 billion loss incurred in the same period a year ago.

Bloomberry is the developer and operator of Solaire Resort & Casino in the Philippines and Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino in Korea, which the Razon-led company is in the process of selling.

 Razon, chairman and CEO of Bloomberry, said the company was likely to maintain its growth until the end of the year.

 “Our one-mindedness to manage costs and capital will see us maintaining this growth trajectory up to the end of the year. We are confident that the effects of these initiatives will carry on into the coming year, but we will nonetheless continue to be discerning and persevere in making Solaire the premium go-to Philippine destination,” he said.

In the third quarter alone, Bloomberry reported a net income of P1.4 billion as against a net loss of P189 million the previous year.

The company noted all time high records in VIP volume, mass table drop, gross gaming, electronic gaming machine coin-in and non-gaming revenues.

Revenues reached an all time high of P21.961 billion during the nine-month period, 13 percent higher than the P19.42 billion recorded the previous year.

In the third quarter, revenues rose 11 percent to P7.85 billion.

The third quarter produced the best ever quarterly VIP volume, mass table drop and EGM coin-in for Solaire with year-on-year growth rates of 61 percent, ten percent and 16 percent, respectively.

Bloomberry’s total expenses in the third quarter amounting to P6.41 billion remained essentially flat year-on-year but grew nine percent quarter-on-quarter.

This was due mainly to the change in the gaming tax structure as required by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), which was implemented at the beginning of the quarter, the company said.

 As a result of the change in the gaming tax structure, total expenses from the Philippines rose 16 percent to P6.397 billion. On a cumulative basis, Bloomberry’s total expenses remained flat at P18.9 billion.

The company said it would continue to improve operations to remain competitive as the number of casino operators at the Entertainment City, the country’s gaming Mecca, continues to grow.

Solaire was the first to open in the 100-hectare Las Vegas style gaming hub followed by City of Dreams Manila by Melco Crown Philippines and Belle Corp. Okada Manila by Japanese casino mogul Kazuo Okada is set to open by December.