Bloomberry Quezon City scheme delayed by Covid-19: CEO

Jun 22, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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The boss of Bloomberry Resorts Corp says countermeasures on Covid-19 in the Philippines are likely to push back the completion date of the firm’s new gaming resort known as Solaire North, in Quezon City, part of the Greater Manila area.

It was now likely to be completed at the end of 2022 or early 2023, said Enrique Razon (pictured in a file photo), Bloomberry’s chairman and chief executive, in comments to shareholders at the firm’s annual meeting on Thursday, as reported by local media.

Bloomberry is the operator of Manila gaming complex Solaire Resort and Casino.

Construction had “partially restarted” at Solaire North, Mr Razon was cited as saying, although the specifics of the current quarantine rules for Quezon City were not mentioned in reports.

The existing Solaire Resort and Casino in the Entertainment City casino zone in Metro Manila has been closed since mid-March and remains so, due to a general community quarantine currently in place in Metro Manila and due to run at least until June 30.

Mr Razon was cited in his Thursday comments as saying that – with an eye on imminent reopening – the group had “invested heavily” and “gone to extreme lengths” to make sure sanitisation procedures for Solaire and for its guests once they return, would be as “safe as possible”.

In general commentary on the firm’s business outlook after Covid-19, Mr Razon said the group would “exercise prudence and restraint” in managing its balance sheet and finances. Bloomberry has said when it does open it will be at reduced gaming capacity in order to keep guests physically apart for safety reasons.

In a May filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Bloomberry said first-quarter net income declined by 37.7 percent year-on-year, while net revenue contracted by 12.5 percent, which it attributed to the impact of Covid 19.

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