Philippines-listed Bloomberry Resorts Corp has announced that Thomas Arasi (pictured) stepped down on Tuesday as president, chief operating officer (COO), and a member of the company’s board.
Mr Arasi, 63, is also retiring from his positions in the group’s unit Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc and “from all positions in other subsidiaries,” stated the parent company in a Tuesday filing.
“His retirement is for personal reasons and is effective today [Tuesday, December 17],” said Bloomberry Resorts. The company has not yet announced a replacement.
The company runs Solaire Resort & Casino in the Philippine capital Manila, and in May opened Solaire Resort North, another gaming complex in Quezon City, northeast of Manila.
Mr Arasi joined Bloomberry Resorts as president and COO in 2013. Previously, he served as president and chief executive at Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd, the promoter of the Marina Bay Sands, one of Singapore’s two casino resorts.
Among other positions, Mr Arasi previously served as president and COO at Lodgian Inc, and president of InterContinental Hotels Group Plc.
In October this year, Mr Arasi received nearly 9.3 million Bloomberry Resorts shares, priced at PHP7.78 (US$0.13) each, as a result of vested shares under the firm’s stock incentive plan.
Following the transaction, Mr Arasi owned circa 16.6 million shares in Bloomberry. He indirectly controled another 21.9 million shares in the company, according to a filing at the time.
Ports and casino entrepreneur Enrique Razon Jr – ranked second in this year’s “Philippines’ 50 Richest” list compiled by Forbes – is chairman and chief executive of Bloomberry Resorts.
Bloomberry Resorts reported a consolidated net loss of under PHP470.2 million (US$8.0 million) for the three months to September 30, compared with a PHP1.95-billion profit a year earlier. It compared with a profit of PHP1.34 billion in the second quarter this year.
“The net loss was a result of lower EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation], significantly higher depreciation and amortisation, and interest expense associated with Solaire North,” stated the company in its quarterly results published in November.
