Belle posts 35% drop in H1 profit

Leisure estate and gaming firm Belle Corp. posted a 34.7-percent year-on-year drop in first semester net profit to P751.84 million due to nonrecurring items that bloated earnings in the comparative period last year.

Excluding one-off items, Belle’s net income for the first semester would have been P836.5 million, P425.4 million or 103 percent higher than year-ago recurring income level, the company told the Philippine Stock Exchange Friday.

Six-month revenue surged by 158 percent year-on-year to P2.76 billion with the gaming income share of Premium Leisure Corp. (PLC) from integrated resort City of Dreams Manila (COD Manila) hitting P360.7 million.

Revenue in the first semester was also boosted by the consolidation of Pacific Online Systems Corp., with earnings coming from equipment lease rentals, instant scratch ticket sales and commission. Belle also posted higher interest income for the period.

Apart from owning half of the gaming operations of the $1-billion COD Manila, PLC has a 34.5-percent interest in Pacific Online. Belle owns 79 percent of PLC, which was refocused into a gaming investment firm.

Belle sold more real estate and club shares in the first semester, resulting in a 217.9- percent year-on-year growth in revenue from this segment to P323.62 million.

Including net profit attributable to minority interest, Belle’s six-month net profit fell by 50 percent to P836.5 million.

The decline in six-month earnings was due mainly to the one-time reversal of investment loss reserves by PLC in 2014 worth P1.22 billion and after-gain tax on redeemed retail bonds.

Belle said consistent profitability allowed it to pay cash dividends to shareholders on March 9 amounting to P1.9 billion or 18 centavos per share. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla