Alliance Global to ramp up casino expansion after Genting exit

MANILA  -Billionaire Andrew Tan-led conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) will revive plans to expand its casino business outside Metro Manila after taking full control of its gaming arm with the exit of Genting Hong Kong.

The company’s gaming and leisure subsidiary Travellers International Hotel Group already booked a financial turnaround in 2022 with the easing of pandemic-era restrictions.

AGI CEO Kevin Tan signaled that Travellers, operator of Newport World Resorts (formerly Resorts World Manila), is ready to explore new locations outside the Philippine capital.

“As for expansion outside Metro Manila, we are actively looking at some of the key tourism hubs all over the Philippines as potential expansion sites for our integrated resort business,” he said during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Thursday.

Last week, AGI said it would buy out the 40-percent stake held by cruise ship giant Genting Hong Kong, controlled by Genting Group patriarch Lim Kok Thay of Malaysia, which filed for bankruptcy last year. This will give the real estate, liquor, gaming and fast food conglomerate full control of Travellers.

BIZ BUZZ: Genting’s exit from Travellers

Apart from Newport World Resorts, Travellers has a gaming license to develop an integrated casino project in the Entertainment City complex along Manila Bay.

Three years ago, it entered into an agreement with Suntrust Resorts Holdings Inc., owned by Hong Kong-listed LET Group Holdings (formerly Suncity Group Holdings), which will build the $2-billion casino project.

Meanwhile, Tan said prospects in gaming and hotels—among the hardest hit segments during the pandemic—were on the mend.

“We intend to sustain this strong growth trajectory,” Kevin Tan said.

The conglomerate also committed to expanding its other segments via a P70-billion capital spending budget for 2023, which was 23 percent higher than the previous year.

AGI owns Megaworld Corp., Emperador Inc., Travellers, and Golden Arches Development Corp., which operates the McDonald’s fast food chain in the Philippines.

“AGI has been focused on delivering products and services that create a bespoke and premium lifestyle for our discerning customers,” Kevin Tan said.

“A firm believer of the country’s attractive long-term growth prospects, the Group is betting on the continued improvement in consumer spending,” he added.

Andrew Tan holding firm posts 20% growth in Q1 profit

AGI ended the first quarter of 2023 with a net income of P4.7 billion, up 20 percent over the same period last year. Revenues from January to March also rose 34 percent to P50.3 billion.