Byron Yip (pictured left) is to leave in mid-September as president and chief operating officer (COO) of the Okada Manila casino resort in the Philippine capital. The information was disclosed in a Thursday announcement by the property’s promoter, Philippines-based Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI).
Nobuki Sato (pictured right), senior executive officer and chief financial officer of Japanese conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp, will assume the roles of president and COO of Okada Manila. TRLEI is a subsidiary of Universal Entertainment Corp.
“Marking seven years of dedicated service,” Mr Yip “is concluding his tenure to embark on the next chapter of his career, while continuing to oversee daily operations and supporting the leadership transition through September 2025,” stated TRLEI in Thursday’s press release.
Mr Sato’s appointment is effective from September 15. The executive, who has been a member of TRLEI’s board since March 2023, is described as having “over 20 years of extensive leadership experience in hospitality, finance, and strategic operations”.
TRLEI said the leadership transition reflected the company’s “ongoing commitment to operational excellence and long-term value creation”.
The announcement cited Tomohiro Okada, representative director and president of Universal Entertainment, as saying: “Byron Yip’s leadership has been instrumental in establishing Okada Manila as a leading destination in the region … and the successful execution of key expansion initiatives.”
“We extend our heartfelt appreciation for Byron’s contributions and are pleased that he will continue to support the organisation to ensure a seamless transition,” he stated.
Mr Okada added: “We are confident that Nobuki Sato’s proven expertise in operational and financial management will guide Okada Manila into its next phase of strategic growth and innovation.”
In July, Fitch Ratings Inc revised the rating outlook for Universal Entertainment to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’. The rating agency said the step reflected “the absence of a clear near-term recovery path in its [the parent’s] integrated resort (IR) segment”, as well as Universal Entertainment’s “unexpectedly weak financial results in 2024”.
