Belle profit down 18% as contribution from gaming unit falls

Leisure estate and gaming firm Belle Corp. saw an 18-percent year-on-year drop in net profit to P2.18 billion in the first nine months due to lower earnings contribution from its gaming unit.

Gaming investment holding firm Premium Leisure Corp. saw its net profit decline by 11 percent year-on-year to P1.7 billion due to the decline in revenues from its lotto and keno operations.

For its part, Belle booked consolidated revenue of P5.77 billion for the nine-month period, down by 11 percent year-on-year.

Although Belle continued to experience growth at City of Dreams Manila, its overall operating performance was affected by weaker results at Pacific Online Systems Corp., which leased online betting equipment to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) or lottery and keno operations.

Pacific Online, which is 50.1-percent owned by Belle subsidiary PLC, reported a 51-percent decrease in revenue to P766 million in the nine-month period. This was due to competition in small town lottery, and the temporary suspension of lottery and keno operations by the PCSO in the third quarter of 2019.

“With the suspension lifted, Pacific Online is working closely with the PCSO and its network of agents to boost the attractiveness of the pari-mutuel games it offers, and is working to implement cost efficiency measures across its operations,” the firm disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

As Malacañang probed PCSO activities, lotto was suspended for four days (July 27 to 30) while keno and scratch tickets were suspended for two months (July 27-Sept 27).

But Belle reported that core operations remained stable, with the real estate business growing revenue by 4 percent year-on-year to P2.63 billion in the first nine months. Of the real estate revenue so far in 2019, P2 billion came from Belle’s lease of the land and buildings comprising City of Dreams Manila to Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp., marking a 16-percent improvement from the previous year.

Real estate sales and property management activities at Belle’s Tagaytay Highlands complex contributed the balance of P624 million during 2019.

Meanwhile, PLC registered a P2.38-billion share in gaming earnings of City of Dreams Manila for the first nine months, flat from the contribution in the same period in 2018.