The board of Philippine-listed Belle Corp has approved the declaration of a cash dividend amounting to PHP0.06 (US$0.001) per share.
The dividend will be paid to shareholders on record as of March 7. The payment is expected to be made on March 21, the firm said in a filing on Monday, following the board’s decision on Friday.
Belle said it expects the total dividend payment to amount to PHP582.0 million.
Belle president and chief executive Armin Raquel-Santos (pictured in a file photo) was quoted in the release as saying: “In 2024, the Belle Group remained profitable due to the resilience of our businesses, strategic focus, and healthy balance sheet.”
The firm said its consolidated revenues increased by almost 5.2 percent year-on-year in calendar year 2024, reaching PHP5.89 billion. Consolidated net income for the period was PHP2.43 billion, compared to PHP2.42 billion the previous year.
Belle’s subsidiary Premium Leisure Corp gets a share of gaming revenue from Philippine casino resort City of Dreams Manila, run by a unit of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd.
Belle confirmed in a July filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange that Premium Leisure and its associates had “applied for a gaming licence from government regulators.”
It was later confirmed that the licence was for Clark, a former military base on the Philippines’ main island, Luzon, near Angeles City, and home of Clark International Airport. The adjacent Clark Freeport Zone already has a cluster of gaming properties, including Hann Casino Resort.
Mr Raquel-Santos said last month that Belle and Premium Leisure were “well-prepared to explore opportunities” in the Clark casino market.
