Belle 1H net profit up 15pct, as CoD Manila biz ramps up

Jul 27, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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Belle Corp’s casino revenue generated from its share of gaming business at City of Dreams (CoD) Manila rose by nearly 28 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2023, to PHP1.24 billion (US$22.7 million), it said in a Thursday filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Its share is via an operating agreement between Belle’s subsidiary Premium Leisure Corp, and a unit of casino group Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd, which runs City of Dreams Manila.

Belle’s total net income for the first half of this year was PHP1.31 billion, up 15.1 percent from a year earlier. The group also separately runs a lottery operation and has real estate interests.

Belle’s group-wide revenue for the first six months of 2023 was PHP2.93 billion, up 3.9 percent from the prior year. Gaming revenue share from City of Dreams Manila was the biggest contributor to Belle Corp’s first-half revenue.

“The increase in revenues was mainly brought about by the improvements in the group’s gaming business units due to a more open economy in 2023 and the lifting of quarantine and capacity restrictions as the Covid-19 situation in the country became more controlled and manageable,” Belle said in its latest filing.

Belle stated in its unaudited first-half results that its revenues from real estate decreased by 17 percent year-on-year, to PHP1.35 billion. Just above PHP1 billion was derived from the lease of the land and buildings at City of Dreams Manila, to Melco Resorts’ Philippines unit. That was down 4 percent from a year earlier, it added.

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