Belle posts 9% drop in 2019 net profit to P2.9B

Gaming and leisure estate holding firm Belle Corp. saw a 9-percent drop in net profit to P2.92 billion last year due to a smaller share in earnings from City of Dreams Manila alongside a challenging lotto equipment business.

Excluding one-off items, Belle’s recurring net income for 2019 amounted to P3.44 billion versus the comparative figure of P3.46 billion in the previous year.

Consolidated revenues fell by 12 percent to P7.47 billion for the full year, Belle said in a regulatory filing.

Pacific Online Systems Corp., which leases online betting equipment for the lottery and keno operations of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), saw a 49-percent drop in revenues to P990 million last year. This was due to competition from the small-town lottery and the PCSO’s temporary suspension of lotto and keno operations in the third quarter of 2019.

“With the suspensions since lifted, Pacific Online is working closely with PCSO and its network of agents to boost the attractiveness of the games it offers, and is working to implement cost efficiency measures across its operations,” Belle said in its disclosure.

Belle’s 78.7-percent owned gaming investment holding firm Premium Leisure Corp. (PLC) controls 51 percent of Pacific Online.

Real estate operations contributed an 11-percent increase in revenues last year to P3.5 billion, P2.67 billion of which came from Belle’s lease of the land and buildings comprising integrated resort City of Dreams Manila to Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp.

Real estate sales and property management activities at leisure estate Tagaytay Highlands contributed P832 million in revenues last year.

Belle’s main cash cow— PLC’s 50-percent share in the gaming revenues of City of Dreams Manila—fell by 7 percent to P3.21 billion. To mitigate this, Belle tightened spending by 16 percent.

Meanwhile, Belle’s board approved a cash dividend amounting to 12 centavos a share for a total of about P1.2 billion to shareholders on record as of March 13, payable on March 27.