Travellers’ Jan-Mar earnings trek higher

Resorts World Manila developer and operator Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. grew its first-quarter net profit by 72.7-percent year-on-year to P1.7 billion as belt-tightening measures made up for the decline in gaming and non-gaming revenues.

Travellers—led by a partnership between the group of tycoon Andrew Tan and the Genting group of Malaysia—reported to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday that gross revenues declined by 22.3 percent year-on-year to P8 billion.

Gross gaming revenues amounted to P7.2 billion, 23.4 percent lower than the previous year. Most segments generally saw an improvement in volume except for the overseas VIP or high-roller segment, which was affected by the difference in the international calendar of activities, the company said. While the “win rate” improved quarter-on-quarter, this remained lower than that posted during first quarter of 2013.

A casino’s “win” or “hold” rate is based on the element of luck but is also affected by the spread of table limits, a player’s skill and resources and amount of time spent in the casino.

Total table count remains the same at 287, while count of slot machines increased to 1,853 from 1,699 while count of electronic table games (ETG) rose to 210 from 100.

The company recently obtained authority from gaming regulations to add gaming capacity based on its Phase 1 room count, bringing the total gaming capacity to 420 tables, and 4,148 combined gaming machine count. “The company is currently evaluating all options for the optimum deployment of the additional capacity,” it said. Doris C. Dumlao