Razon’s Bloomberry erases losses as gaming revenue at Solaire doubles
Billionaire Enrique Razon Jr. sees “sustained recovery” at his casino empire after Bloomberry Resorts Corp. recorded a surge in gaming revenues in the the second quarter of 2022.
Bloomberry, operator of the Solaire Resort & Casino project along Manila Bay, said the easing of pandemic restrictions pushed up January to June profits to P2.5 billion, reversing the net loss of P1.9 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Second quarter revenue jumped 112 percent to P10 billion mainly as gross gaming revenues, or GGR, reached P13.1 billion, up 131 percent. Compared to the previous quarter, GGR was up 47 percent.
Net income in the second quarter ramped up to P1.8 billion, erasing a net loss of P1.2 billion a year ago.
“Strong demand from the domestic mass market is pushing revenues closer to prepandemic levels,” Razon, the chair of CEO of Bloomberry, said in a statement on Monday.
“Absent the emergence of new COVID-19 variants that could disrupt our gains, we see scope for further recovery as regional travel starts to pick up in the coming months. In the meantime, we will grow our market leadership by continuing to operate Solaire at the highest levels of service and health security,” he added.
Total GGR in the first semester climbed 76 percent to P22 billion, led by gains across all segments. Bloomberry added that coin slot machines had already “significantly surpassed” the prepandemic level.
Total earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization in the first semester soared 174 percent to 6.7 billion. Net revenues during the same period increased 68 percent to P17.2 billion.
Total cash operating expenses for the semester also rose 41 percent to P10.5 billion.
Gains during the period were bolstered by first semester non-gaming revenues of P2.7 billion, up 74 percent. For the second quarter alone, the same had jumped 163 percent to P1.7 billion.
First semester hotel occupancy doubled to 53.4 percent due to lower pandemic restrictions.
The company’s South Korea operations, via the Jeju Sun project, reported no gaming revenues since operations were suspended on March 2020. It booked non-gaming revenues of P1.2 million in the second quarter, up 6 percent.
The recovery in the gaming sector comes as Razon pursues an aggressive expansion program across the country.
Last July 25, it announced the ceremonial “topping off” of its Solaire North project in Quezon City.
In May, Bloomberry said it would pay about P7.5 billion to acquire 279 hectares of land in Ternate, Cavite to build a mixed-use tourism resort with casinos, residences and a golf course. That same month, the company sealed initial agreements to invest in Davao-based tycoon Dennis A. Uy’s casino projects in Cebu and Pampanga.
