GGRAsia – Belle Corp 1H gaming income up 225pct y-o-y

Belle Corp 1H gaming income up 225pct y-o-y

Aug 02, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Belle Corp’s first-half 2021 income from gaming revenue rose 225.0 percent year-on-year, to PHP805.5 million (US$16.1 million), from PHP247.9 million in the prior-year period, the firm said in a Friday filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Belle is entitled to a share in revenues or earnings from gaming operations at City of Dreams Manila (pictured) through an operating agreement between Belle’s subsidiary Premium Leisure Corp, and a unit of casino group Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd.

The first-half gaming revenue gain occurred as “operations at City of Dreams Manila improved during 2021, although still with substantial limitations due to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic,” said Belle in its latest results filing.

In Friday’s filing, Belle said it achieved net income of PHP1.04 billion in the six months to June 30, up 243.7 percent from the nearly PHP304.0 million it achieved in the first half of 2020.

Metro Manila – where City of Dreams is located within the Entertainment City zone – will again be placed under the most restrictive “enhanced community quarantine” from Friday (August 6) to August 20, as countermeasure against the further spread of Covid-19 in the region.

Under the new measures, indoor tourist attractions in Metro Manila “may not operate”, and outdoor tourist attractions shall “be allowed at 30 percent venue capacity.”

Casino operations in the Metro Manila area include the large-scale private sector sites Okada Manila, Resorts World Manila, and Solaire Resort and Casino, as well as City of Dreams Manila.

The operator of the latter resort said last week that the property had been closed from March 29 to April 30 as part of community quarantine measures in Metro Manila. The property resumed gaming operations on May 1, but with capacity limited to 50 percent, it stated. Gaming capacity at City of Dreams Manila has been further limited to 40 percent since July 26, noted its promoter in commentary on July 27.