Online gaming buzz boosts Bloomberry shares
Bloomberry Resorts Corp., operator of Solaire Resorts and Casino, is betting big on online gaming.
MANILA, Philippines – The share price of Enrique Razon Jr.’s Bloomberry Resorts Corp. surged by more than 10 percent on Monday after the operator of Solaire Resort and Casino confirmed plans to launch its online gaming platform by the second quarter.
By the end of the trading session, Bloomberry’s share price had rallied by 10.28 percent to close at P3.54 each.
READ: Bloomberry sets foray into online gaming segment
While the company has yet to disclose whether it has welcomed a new investor, Unicapital Securities Inc. equity research analyst Jeri Alfonso explained that Bloomberry’s gain was an “overextension from last week’s optimism.”
To recall, Bloomberry chair and CEO Razon confirmed last Thursday that they would launch their online gaming platform within the second quarter.
According to Razon, the online business “is now undergoing extensive testing,” noting that the new service was Bloomberry’s way of reaching a broader market.
“Investors have long been waiting for [Bloomberry’s] online gaming launch, with the e-gaming segment the top performer in the gaming industry,” Alfonso said.
Citing data from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Alfonso pointed out that gross gaming revenues (GGR) of the electronic gaming segment ballooned by 309 percent last year to P135.7 billion.
This represents 36 percent of the entire gaming sector’s GGR mix, coming from only 12 percent in 2023.
“We believe as one of the country’s leading casino operators, [Bloomberry’s] expansion into e-gaming is a logical move to stay competitive,” Alfonso noted.
However, she warned that this could also result in higher operating expenses, especially for promotions and marketing that would help grow Bloomberry’s user base and “close the gap with established players.”
In its 2024 annual report, Bloomberry confirmed that the new platform was meant to compete directly with other e-gaming license holders, including BingoPlus of market leader DigiPlus Interactive Corp., which had 40 million registered users as of last year.
Bloomberry expects the online gaming business to contribute around P2.5 billion to P3.7 billion in GGR.
It can be noted that Bloomberry is pursuing an online platform despite the government call to crack down on local online gambling firms.
Still, Alfonso said the company’s foray into the industry showed that it was “confident that there will be no ban.”
Last year, weak demand from the VIP segment and high costs associated with Solaire Resort North caused Bloomberry’s net income to fall by 73 percent to P2.6 billion.
