Weak VIP segment, high costs pull down Bloomberry earnings
The gaming environment continued to face challenges last year as weak demand from rich patrons and higher costs associated with its newly opened casino offset Bloomberry Resorts Corp.’s revenue growth.
In a stock exchange filing on Thursday, the operator of Solaire Resorts and Casino said its net income fell by 73 percent to P2.6 billion.
At the same time, gross gaming revenues inched up by 6 percent to P61.7 billion as the company recognized gains from Solaire Resort North in Quezon City.
However, it also noted that preoperating, depreciation and interest expenses at Solaire North, along with the weak VIP and premium mass market segments at Solaire Resort Entertainment City in Parañaque, resulted in lower earnings.
The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization likewise dipped by 14 percent to P16.6 billion on the back of one-off expenses associated with Solaire North.
Still, Bloomberry chair and CEO Enrique Razon Jr. said they were optimistic the $1-billion Solaire North, which opened last May, could continue to capture its intended market.
“We believe that our second property’s exceptional world-class offerings are well-suited for the demand environment in the northern portions of the Greater Metro Manila area and gives us a distinct advantage over the competition within the integrated resort space,” Razon said in a disclosure.
The mass market segment outperformed the VIP business in both Solaire North and Solaire Entertainment City, according to Bloomberry.
Revenues from mass table games and electronic gaming machines across the two properties grew by 19 percent, it said.
Nongaming revenues expanded by 23 percent to P10.7 billion due to high foot traffic in Solaire North.
Apart from Solaire Resorts and Casino, Bloomberry’s portfolio includes Jeju Sun Hotel and Casino in South Korea.
Gross gaming revenues at Jeju Sun surged by 42 percent to P44 million, signaling recovery after its temporary closure at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emerald Bay
At the same time, Bloomberry disclosed that PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc. (PHR) again failed to return in full the P1-billion deposit it owes the Solaire operator for the long-stalled Emerald Bay Resort Hotel and Casino in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
According to Bloomberry, the company led by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy has so far returned P699 million. The remaining P301 million needs to be returned to Bloomberry within this month.
To recall, Bloomberry in 2022 signed an agreement with PHR to inject capital into Lapu-Lapu Leisure Inc. and Clark Grand Leisure Corp., the developers of the resort.
But the Razon-led firm terminated the term sheet a year later “after considering the results of due diligence.”
Bloomberry was one of three companies that dropped the $300-million Emerald Bay project. Others were Cebu-based developer AppleOne Properties Inc., which backed out in 2023, and Okada Manila operator Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc., which terminated its contract with PHR last July.
As of December, PHR said it was in talks with a potential fourth investor: Martin Romualdez-backed EEI Corp.
