Belle’s 9-month profit hits P903M

Leisure estate and gaming firm Belle Corp. posted a nine-month net profit of P903.37 million this year on increased income from its gaming businesses.

This was down 43.8 percent year-on-year due to the non-recurring gains booked during the comparative period.

Excluding the non-recurring items, Belle’s core net income for the January to September period would have surged by 80 percent year-on-year to P1.1 billion due to higher revenues from its lease of the City of Dreams Manila property to the Melco Crown group, higher income from sales of real estate and increased income contributed by its listed gaming subsidiaries, Premium Leisure Corp. and Pacific Online Systems Corp.

The firm said there was a one-time gain of P1.2 billion in the 2014 comparative period due to the reversal of loss provisions by PLC, which was earlier transformed into an investment holding firm for gaming assets.

The firm also said there was an after-tax gain of P30.8 million on the sale of some bond holdings in 2014.

Belle said it considered its growth in recurring net income and its dividend payout this year as the “more relevant indicators for its operating performance and prospects.”

The company has paid a total of P2.9 billion in cash dividends to its shareholders this 2015.

Belle’s operating revenue of P4 billion for the nine-month period was about 150 percent higher year-on-year.

For gaming unit PLC, operations were highlighted by the grand opening of integrated gaming resort City of Dreams Manila last Feb. 2.

PLC has an operating agreement with the Melco Crown group, which gives it a share of gaming revenues from City of Dreams Manila. This is on top of Belle’s leasing income from the property at Pagcor Entertainment City in Parañaque City, where City of Dreams Manila is located. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla