Belle Corp profit falls 50 pct in 1H 2015

Aug 03, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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Net profit at Belle Corp, an investor at the City of Dreams Manila casino resort (pictured) in the Philippines, fell by nearly half year-on-year in the six months to June 30. Such profit was PHP836.48 million (US$18.3 million), compared to PHP1.66 billion in the year-prior period.

The management said that the main reason for the year-on-year change was nearly PHP1.2 billion in non-recurring items in the first half of the 2014 reporting period; relating to its subsidiary Premium Leisure Corporation.

“Excluding this non-recurring item, Belle’s underlying net income increased by approximately PHP394 million (89 percent) during the first half of 2015,” stated Belle.

The company added that operating revenues grew by more than 150 percent to PHP2.8 billion compared to PHP1.1 billion in the first half of 2014.

On Friday the board approved a dividend of PHP0.095 per share, for a total dividend payment of approximately PHP1.0 billion, payable on August 28, to shareholders on record as of August 14.

Belle’s principal assets include land and buildings located at Entertainment City in Manila, a cluster of private sector casino resorts licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, also known as Pagcor. The land and buildings for City of Dreams Manila are being leased on a long-term basis to Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. The site has 6.2 hectares (15.3 acres) of land and more than 30 hectares in building gross floor area.

Belle also realises a share in earnings from City of Dreams’ gaming operations through Belle’s 78.7-percent-owned subsidiary, Premium Leisure. City of Dreams Manila, operated by a subsidiary of Melco Crown, includes approximately two hectares of gaming space, approximately 900 hotel rooms operated under three hotel brands (namely Crown, Hyatt and Nobu), the DreamPlay indoor amusement park and approximately two hectares of restaurant and retail space.

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