Bloomberry regains profitability as high rollers return

Gov’t consent to Razon’s Malampaya buy-in conditional

Enrique Razon, businessman and owner of casino operator Bloomberry Resorts, listens to a question during a stockholders meeting’ in Manila June 24, 2013. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco (file)

The operator of integrated gaming resort Solaire Resort & Casino swung to profitability in the January to September period as its consolidated gaming revenues surged by 80 percent, supported by its high-roller or VIP segment.

Razon-led Bloomberry Resorts Corp., in a disclosure on Tuesday, said it had delivered an attributable net income of P3.88 billion for the nine-month period, a turnaround from a net loss of P3.11 billion a year ago.

For the third quarter alone, it delivered a net income of P1.56 billion, a reversal from its P1.04-billion net loss in the same period last year.

Total gaming revenues from January to September were up 80 percent to P35.4 billion from the same period last year.

Earnings before income, tax, depreciation and amortization for the period climbed by 125 percent to P8.3 billion.

“Continued growth during the quarter drove nine-month revenues from our predominantly domestic mass gaming segments to well over 95 percent of January to September 2019 values, demonstrating the resilience of local discretionary consumption. Our VIP segment experienced progressive recovery as it benefited from gradually improving international traffic,” Bloomberry chair Enrique Razon Jr. said.

VIP segment gross gaming revenues surged by 131 percent to P11.8 billion for the period, while those of the mass table and electronic gambling machine segments were up 53 percent and 75 percent to P12.3 billion and P11.3 billion, respectively. The food and beverage and retail businesses, meanwhile, nearly doubled to P4.5 billion in the nine-month period given the increased operational capacity of the hotel segment.

“While we remain focused on the recovery of Solaire in Entertainment City, work continues unimpeded on our second integrated resort, Solaire Resort North. We topped off the structure last July and we remain on schedule to open by the fourth quarter of next year,” Razon said. Solaire Resort North is seen to expand and strengthen Bloomberry’s foothold in the domestic gaming market.

—Tyrone Jasper C. Piad INQ
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