Philippine casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp reported net income attributable to its shareholders of PHP3.32 billion (US$59.4 million), versus PHP2.64 billion in the prior-year period, according to a Wednesday filing.
“Adjusting for the net impact of the PHP2.9 billion one-time, non-cash gain resulting from the refinancing of the PHP40-billion syndicated loan facility last February, net income would have been PHP445.8 million, lower by 83 percent year-over-year,” stated the casino firm.
The company recorded revenue of PHP14.29 billion for the three months to March 31, a 15.3-percent increase from a year earlier.
First-quarter earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at PHP4.38 billion, down 11.2 percent year-on-year.
“Excluding the impact of PHP279.5 million of Solaire North pre-operating expenses recorded in the first three months of 2024, consolidated EBITDA would have declined by 15 percent,” observed the company.
The group’s first and flagship property is Solaire Resort & Casino (pictured) at Entertainment City in the Philippine capital. In May last year, the group launched its US$1.0-billion Solaire Resort North complex in Quezon City, outside Metro Manila.
The company also runs a small casino hotel – Jeju Sun – on the holiday island of Jeju in South Korea.
Group-wide gross gaming revenue in the opening quarter of 2025 rose by 13.7 percent year-on-year, to nearly PHP16.79 billion.
“The company’s mass market business continued to expand as the combined mass tables and electronic gaming machines GGR of Solaire Resort Entertainment City and Solaire North increased by 29 percent year-over-year,” said the firm.
In the first quarter of 2025, VIP rolling chip volume posted a decline of 9.7 percent year-on-year, to PHP96.60 billion. Mass-table drop and slot coin-in grew by 34.8 percent and 27.5 percent from a year earlier, respectively, to PHP14.99 billion and PHP124.78 billion.
Property performance
At Solaire in Entertainment City, GGR stood at PHP12.15 billion in the three months to March 31, down 17.7 percent from a year earlier. The property’s EBITDA was PHP3.44 billion, down from PHP4.38 billion in the prior-year period.
In first-quarter 2025, Solaire Resort North “continued to gain traction,” as gaming volumes “increased sequentially,” said the property’s promoter.
In the January to March period, Solaire Resort North reported PHP472.0 million of VIP revenue, PHP2.0 billion in mass table gaming revenue, and PHP2.2 billion in slot revenues.
Enrique Razon, company chairman and chief executive, was cited as saying in the filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange that the growth in the group’s GGR – particularly in the mass-market segment – was supported by a “resilient domestic mass market player base”.
He added: “Solaire North continued to gain ground as GGR across the board increased by 29 percent sequentially, resulting in a PHP1.1 billion contribution to consolidated EBITDA.”
The CEO said however that first-quarter results at Solaire Resort & Casino “were impacted by softness in gaming volumes arising from slow VIP play and the POGO ban”.
Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, or POGOs, were banned from doing business in the country at the end of 2024.
Mr Razon added: “We are fully committed to pushing the performance of both of our resort businesses and Solaire Online even as we are focused on ramping our new online product which will be launching in the coming weeks.”
In late April, the CEO said Bloomberry was set to launch an online gaming platform by the “end of May” or “early June”.
“Our online business is running and undergoing extensive testing. We are on track for a full launch around the end of May, early June,” Mr Razon told shareholders during the company’s annual stockholders meeting, according to local media reports.
